Wave Aid Weekend and other things

This'll be a long post so those not interested can stop reading now.

I'll start with Wave Aid Weekend.

On Friday Bron came over around 10:30am and then Ivan dropped us off at the airport. We barely had time to sit down before we had to board our flight, which went smoothly. We got to Sydney at around 2pm and caught the train to Leticia's work. We dropped off our bags at her work and went for a MASSIVE walk of the city. We did a few laps of the same blocks because we got a bit disorientated and then ended up walking down to Circular Quay and checking out the harbour bridge and opera house. We then went back to meet Teesh at her work and catched a cab back to her place in Waverton where we were staying, lounging around and chatting for a couple of hours. For dinner we walked to this restaurant called 2060, drank too much wine, then went for a walk up to Ball's Head lookout, which gave a stunning view of the harbour at nighttime. We eventually sauntered home exhausted at around midnight.

Bron's brother works night shift during vintage season but got the Friday night off, so drove to Sydney from the Hunter Valley to see her. He arrived at about 1am, so on the Saturday he took us to see Bron's grandmother who'd 94 and in a nursing home, and it was good for Bron to see her. That woman was hilarious. She's fully alert mentally but has 4 broken vertebrae and is in a lot of pain and I guess the frustration of not being able to walk but being fully aware of your situation made her a cranky old woman. She proceeded to tell us all how fat we were, how angry she was for being put in the nursing home 18 months ago, how horrible Phil looked for not shaving that day, and so on and so forth, but I thought it was hilarious.

Phil went back to the Hunter Valley later that afternoon and us girls went to the SCG for the Wave Aid concert. All of the bands were great, with the only disappointment being silverchair, who weren't horrible but not great. They sounded good, and Dan looked very buff, but their set wasn't that great and they ended with a whimper rather than a bang. The ones that surprised me were John Butler Trio and the Finn Brothers. I didn't know what to expect from them and they surprised me by being excellent live. And Midnight Oil were the perfect way to end the night, the crowd went wild and everyone was loving it. In between the bands the highlights were catching up with Dusta and also the entertainment provided by the guys on the cameras and the ones putting text up onto the big screen. With their sense of humour they somehow convinced a lot of people in the crowd (both male and female) to flash for the cameras. Quite funny.

On Sunday I was a little annoyed because we got up early to go to The Rocks but then found that Teesh had decided to take us to the markets instead. Bron and I didn't really go with a lot of spending money, so we may as well have slept in, but no matter. After the markets we went to this Chinese restaurant and had Yum Cha, which is something that I've not seen in Adelaide before. Basically all you do is sit at a table and lots of people come around with trolleys with all sorts of Chinese food and you take whatever and however much you want. It was overwhelming for me at first but my goodness it was great because Teesh picked all the yummy food for us. I even managed to convince her to try chicken feet, much to Bron's disgust, haha! We caught the train to the airport and were on our way home before we knew it. I then drove home and got back at around 8pm, and now I'm back at work today.

The only downside to Wave Aid Weekend is the sunburn. We had assigned seats so we were in the sun for about 4 hours, and despite applying sunscreen twice and trying to keep in the shade as much as possible without missing the bands, I am in HEAPS of pain. I can't wait to get home and throw on a sleeveless shirt, as this rubbing is killing me. I even cried from pain in the shower this morning. But hey, all worth it I suppose!

So, moving on from Wave Aid Weekend now!

Dad had his conciliation meeting at the Industrial Relations Commission today and I spoke to him earlier and he's very happy. The company came to the meeting with a printed letter agreeing to give Dad 12 weeks pay, all he had to do was sign. The Commissioner said he had never seen a company so blatantly admit they were wrong and offer something straight off the bat. The Commissioner also told the company they were very wrong in filming my Dad on those days off as he had been a loyal employee for 15 years, and said something to the effect of "Well geez, if someone asked me what I did 3 days ago I wouldn't remember every small detail either!" which Dad was really happy to hear. Dad's lawyer asked for 24 weeks pay, the company raised their offer to 15, Dad lowered his to 20, and then they couldn't come to an agreement. The Commissioner suggested 17.5 weeks pay, at which time the meeting adjourned and the settlement will be next Monday, but now it's just up to Dad's lawyer to work her magic. Because Dad was under a Federal agreement, if they don't come to an agreement now it would have to go to Federal Court, which can take years and cost Dad thousands of dollars, and he doesn't want to do that so he'll be happy to make a settlement. He still has 2 other Workcover cases to go against the company anyway, so I think he'll be happy to get this behind him. Hopefully now the settlement goes well!

Anyway, suppose I should get back to work now...

Jetsetting

This will be my last entry until after the weekend, which I probably didn't need to announce because I've been slack with the blog lately anyway and if I don't post for a few days it doesn't seem unusual anymore but anyway...

Yesterday was Australia Day (for those readers from overseas who mightn't have known, or any from Australia who were also unaware) which means a public holiday and therefore much rejoicing from me. I was supposed to have a BBQ with Bron and some of her hockey friends and listen to the JJJ Hottest 100 but instead, she was halfway to Adelaide for work (how rude) and it was about 40 degrees so bad bbq weather anyway. Because it was so stinking hot I did absolutely nothing. I woke up at 6am for who knows what reason and then my mind started racing and I just couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up, played some CS:Source online, washed my car before it got too hot, watched the cricket, listened to the Hottest 100, read some Harry Potter and occasionally ate something. What an exciting day!!!

So this week is a little out of whack because of a public holiday smack bang in the middle of it but I'm not complaining. Infact, I'm rejoicing because tomorrow Bron and I fly to Sydney for our Wave Aid Weekend! Can't wait! So I'm finishing work at around 4:30pm today, going home and doing the last dregs of packing, then I'm off to Adelaide for the night so I can get the flight out tomorrow.

So, packing... What a dilemma! The main problem lies with around a 10 degree difference in temperature between Adelaide and Sydney tomorrow. The reason this is a problem is because when Bron and I get to Sydney, we're going straight to her brother's girlfriend's workplace to drop off our bags and then hitting the city to do some sightseeing. This means there'll be no opportunity to get changed or even to wear a different pair of shoes, we've gotta dress for comfort really. Then on Saturday the concert runs until 10:30pm so we'll need something warm for the evening, and again, comfort is important. I'm also having difficulty finding a shirt to wear to the concert because my arms are just too damn fat for a tank top and I don't have any decent t-shirts to wear. Sucks being a girl... well, a lot of the time, especially when it comes to picking what to pack!! If only I wasn't so overweight... And again things lead back to my weight which I hate. I've lost 2.5Kgs over the last 3 weeks but it's not nearly enough, I wish it would come off quicker, but I'm gonna keep persisting.

ANYWAY, sorta took a crappy tangent there but generally I am ECSTATIC to be heading off tomorrow and can't wait :)

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

So yesterday, I went to the doctor, and, as always happens, even though you've made an appointment you're left waiting. So, while waiting I picked up a magazine which had no doubt been there forever and started flicking through this Marie Claire. In it was an article that got me so pissed off, I wish I had written down notes about it so I could explain it all to you in better detail but here goes. I tried Googling it but that was pointless.

Ok, the title picture was a poster of The Matrix, and the article was about a 19 year old mentally unstable guy who shot both of his parents after "being obsessed about The Matrix". Yep, I'm sure that's why he killed them. Anyway, it might have been this false title page that convinced me to read on, and boy am I glad I did, because somewhere in there was a real story about this guy.

The guy was living with foster parents, where he had been since age 10. Both of his birth parents were prostitutes and drug addicts and he was removed from their custody by the state when he was very young. The article didn't say where he lived between the ages of about 2 and 10 though, but anyway, he had a crappy childhood, that part is clear. The kid wet his bed even at age 10 which apparently his foster mother used to beat him for because she thought that made him an idiot. So, the kid has deep seated problems which are ignored by his new parents. He only has a few friends, who describe him as always being a loner and always witnessing his parents berating him for not doing well enough in school. Oh, and then there's school. The guy had very thick glasses and was constantly bullied. He suffered from depression from not having friends, not having a girlfriend and feeling like he was in a prison when at home.

So I guess I don't quite see the logic of how The Matrix is blamed as the cause for him shooting his parents, when clearly there was more going on here. The article went on to talk about the "heavy metal" music he listened to and the "violent video games" he played. These were things apparently brought about by his lawyer, who thought his obsession about these material things might have effected his psyche. This was ruled out by several psychiatrists, but the writer of the article still felt the need to take this angle from the title page all the way through. It finally went on to say that psychiatrists did find though that he had mild schizophrenia, something they say should have been identified at age 10.

Hello?!? Am I the only one getting this? Geez, Marilyn Manson really was the voice of reason in Bowling for Columbine. All this kid needed was someone to actually listen. Clearly nobody ever did that.

Obviously murdering his parents was extreme but this isn't just black and white. Guess it's similar to the Columbine killings in a way because those guys just felt shat on by everyone and didn't get the help it was evident they needed early on. When will people learn, I wonder. It certainly won't happen unless people open their eyes and see what's happening right in front of them instead of trying to gloss over things and trying to find causes and blame in material possessions.

Poo bum dicky fart

I've just finished writing a blog for today and then Blogger decided to hiccup and lose it so I can't be bothered writing it all out again (I should really start saving drafts for these times). Here's a quick rundown:

No news on a start date for the job yet.
Weekend was great, pool party was fun.
Dad's case in a week, hope it goes well.
Ivan beat me in table tennis but it's the most exercise he's had for a while so bless him and curse him at the same time.
Touch football at 5pm, and it's 35 degrees. Clever.

Wow, I should make all my blogs this thorough hey? :)

It's official

I got the official phone call today - I got one of the Water Licensing Officer positions in Adelaide. This isn't that higher paying job, I won't know about that for a few more weeks, but I'm MEGA happy to be going back to Adelaide. Will miss some people up here but still, it'll be good to get back. Tomorrow I find out when they want me to start. Hope it's after Wave Aid!

A multitude of hoorahs!

I really should update this more than once a week, otherwise it gets to like today, where I have a lot to say and will probably forget something.

First off I would like to congratulate Michelle and Craig on the birth of their baby boy on January 11th. I saw them on Friday and Mum and baby are doing well :)

In other news I had the interview on Friday and it was ok. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't terrible either, so it was passable. Now we just wait and see again. It seems I'm forever waiting! I am hoping to hear about the other job today but am not sure whether they'll stick to their timeframe or not. My lease in Berri expires this weekend so I'm gonna have to let the landlord know my new Exit date soon enough.

After the interview on Friday I had the day off (that's when I went to the hospital to visit Michelle) so my sister and I used some of the time to go look for her wedding dress. She tried on about 4 or 5 and we found one that she looked so beautiful in so she bought it on the spot! It's all so exciting helping her plan her wedding :) So Friday poor Ivan had to listen to me going "I want a baby" and "I wanna have a wedding", hehehe!

Dad has received word of his first hearing, which will be on January 31st, so he has a few doctor's visits between now and then. I hope things go well for him, I hate seeing my parents so depressed and worried all the time.

On a personal note, I'm mega excited because next Friday Bron and I are flying to Sydney for Wave Aid! I haven't been to Sydney for 11 years but I absolutely LOVE it, and the concert has an incredible lineup! We'll be staying at her brother's girlfriend's house so we've saved a bit on Accomodation, and most of it is going on my credit card, god bless them (but the devil sends the bills). It's only for the weekend, but we're gonna try and squeeze sightseeing around the concert and it should be excellent :)

The weekend was a pretty quiet one, and since Friday was a bit busy I was glad. All we really did on Saturday was go out for dinner which was really nice, the rest of the time we stayed in and watched DVDs or played games. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a great movie by the way.

I think that's about it...

Time flies

It's been just over a year since I got a job with the Department, I can't believe how quickly things have gone. My lease is up for renewal, otherwise I have to move out in two weeks, and I don't think I'll find out about the first job I interviewed for until early next week (although my boss here is positive) so I have to see about extending my lease for a couple of weeks or something, until I know what's happening. Am a bit worried about this interview on Friday though!

The weekend came and went so quickly, and we hardly even did anything. All I did was go out briefly on Saturday morning for a little running around but aside from that Ivan and I stayed in and spent some time together. It was just what I needed after all the madness of Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Dad had his first meeting with the lawyers last week and is feeling very positive as a result. The lawyer believes he has enough to warrant 3 separate cases but the first they're starting with is the Unfair Dismissal case. So, the paperwork has been lodged, and now we just sit back and wait for a while until things start moving. It's put his mind at ease a little, although I think he is still a bit depressed, understandably.

Maria and Steve are starting to plan their wedding and it's so exciting! I love looking through all the stuff with her, and seeing her so happy makes it even better.

That's about it! Apart from my complaint for the day - ick, it's friggin' hot!

Back to work

Well after working in the Adelaide office for 4 weeks and then being on holidays for 2 weeks after that, I'm back working in Berri, having started again here on Tuesday. A few of us around the office are finding it hard to get back into the swing of things. So far this week, every day after lunch has been very slow with little production from most of us. The office was open over the holiday season but not everyone had the time off, but most of us did. And it's not like there isn't work for us to do, it's just that none of us can stay focussed.

Being back in Berri isn't too bad. My neighbours are still as annoying as ever, nothing has really changed. Along with starting work on Tuesday I also started up my exercise routine again. It was going so well last year until I started taking those tablets, then I couldn't sleep and I had no energy, so I fell out of the habit. So this year I'm making a commitment to it, and so far so good, but it hasn't even been a week yet.

As for the jobs in Adelaide, I haven't heard anything about the interview I went to a few weeks ago, but I think it went well as they've gone to the effort of calling my referees (they did that on Tuesday). As I was writing this I just got a phone call for an interview for another position I applied for. This one is one level higher and is a one year contract, but I think it'd be a great opportunity. The interview is next Friday, eek!

Anyway, I'd better go arrange a trip to Adelaide next Friday with the boss.

Have a great 2005!

This is my cousin John who died over New Year's a few years ago. I hope you all had a great New Year's celebration, and RIP John, we still think of you, miss you and love you!