Fresh start

Well the move went well and I'm writing this from the Adelaide office where I started my new job today. It's a little quiet at the moment because 4 of us have started and things aren't quite set up as yet. Tomorrow there'll apparently be a big desk shuffle but until then things are quiet and I'm tired of reading about groundwater so thought I might do a quick update.

My farewell lunch on Friday went really well and my old workmates were kind enough to get me a $50 Border's Gift Voucher as a farewell present! I left work at around 2pm and got home to find that Mum and Dad had already left but they had done all the cleaning so I didn't need to worry about any of that which was excellent. Ivan arrived at around 3pm, we packed up our cars and waited for the removalists. We took off after a couple of hours, stopped to have dinner at Truro Hotel, and then got home around 9:30pm. The rest of the weekend was then spent packing away some stuff, regular housework stuff and lots of lazing around... stuff. I started playing Playboy - The Mansion which is a sim-game and very amusing and addictive. I played it for at least 4 hours.

It's so much quieter in this office, I think that might take some getting used to. The other new people seem nice, a couple of them are on temporary contracts and seem a little older but I think as a team we'll get on just fine. At lunch I went and spent my Border's voucher, although it was hard to know what to decide on. I ended up buying On The Run and Anna Karenina. I'm also expecting some Dymock's vouchers to arrive soon. Truly, I am not addicted to books...

Emotional Baggage

Today is my last day here in Berri, and although I'm excited to be going home, I'm also kinda sad. I think I'm going to cry at my farewell lunch which is on in half an hour (FYI I've ordered the Porterhouse Berri). I don't really care about the town but I am going to miss most of the people I work with. I've been really lucky and have made some great friends, and it'll be weird to not be seeing them every weekday anymore.

On top of that I quit the AEF, my gaming clan, yesterday. Although I think I made the right decision, that was a hard thing to do, and it was also rather sad. I think at least one person is a bit pissed at me, and I'm hoping they don't let this get in the way of friendship. I just need time away from clans, I'm tired of the politics and bickering that can happen and just want to enjoy gaming again. But I miss those guys already, they were a great bunch :(

On a more hilarious note, someone did a search for the word "pleb" in Yahoo and came up with my site. BAHAHAHAH!!!

Keywords

I got a new site counter thingy (marvel at my technical speak) because I wanted to know how people found my site, and the old counter was a bit stuffed (that's a technical term for "not working") in that respects. Anyway, I noticed someone did a search on the word "vivariums" and my blog popped up as a result. All due to one entry from over a year ago, about when I went to someone's house and was looking at all her vivariums and aquariums. So I've decided to use the word "vivariums" a bit more in general daily conversation. It seems to pay off.

Oh not again!

It didn't seem so long ago that I went through some old comments and came across some spam I had to delete. Yesterday I was looking through some archives and came across some more! It's so annoying, the posts were made in March and the spam comments were posted around December, so it's no wonder they get missed until you decide to do a random check. It makes me so mad, is there nowhere that is safe from spammers? It makes me want to upgrade my comments account but I dunno, don't want to lose the ones I have now by using a different program, but also can't afford to upgrade my current account. So I guess I'll just continue to manually delete them...

Anyway, aside from that minor annoyance things are generally well. Last night 4 of us from work went and had some drinks at the pub as well as dinner, and it was a pretty good night. Because it was a Tuesday we got home quite early (around 11pm).

That is about the only exciting thing that has happened lately.

Perhaps I can resort to telling the story of the skink that ran into my lounge room as I went outside to water the pot plants. I love reptiles so was quite pleased, but didn't want him to stay inside, so I tried catching him. After chasing him around the lounge room for a while unsuccessfully I managed to get him to run into a plastic bottle, which I then took outside. Then he didn't want to come out. Silly skink.

Commence "Freak Out"

I can't believe how quickly this week is flying. I come to work, I go home and have dinner, I might watch either an episode of Battlestar Galactica or I watch some TV while I pack, then it's time for sleep, then rinse and repeat. So why does it feel like I'm not getting anywhere?

This morning I got up at 6:30am to do some more packing, and felt I was doing great. But time ran away from me, and somehow I ended up half an hour late for work. How on earth is that possible? It's so annoying - I need to pack and yet I need to earn wages too. And I look at the pile of boxes and think I've packed heaps, but then I realise I still have a whole room I haven't yet touched, and so on and so forth.

Tonight a few of us from work are going out for drinks. Truth be told, if it wasn't my party, I'd cancel and go home and pack. There just seems to be so much left to still do. I think half the battle is deciding what to pack for moving in with Ivan and what to put into storage. So I'm in Freak Out mode at the moment. Don't think I'll have a big one tonight so that I can get up early and do some more. In fact, I may go home at lunch and do another box quickly. So, I would have thought people would understand if I didn't have time to chat to them online but that does not seem to be the case. Awesome. People can be so "busy" they don't talk to me for months at a time, but heaven forbid I should say I'm busy one day. I love the level of fairness and understanding, truly.

Anyway, so I finished Jennifer Government by Max Barry last night and the book is freakin' awesome! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good story. I won't be updating my "read" bit for a while though, because I've packed all the books I am waiting to read, so Max gets a slightly extended plug.

Well, I suppose that's enough procrastinating for now, back to work I go!

The Last Week

So this is my last week here in Berri, the last week I will sit at this here desk, the last week that Bron will be sitting beside me, the last week I can get to work in 2 minutes, the last week I can get instant service no matter where I go. You get the point.

Coming in to work this morning was weird, because people kept reminded me it was my last week here. Tomorrow night a few of us are going out for our last pub night, and then Friday I will have my last work lunch. I must remember to bring my camera along.

Anyway, I'm quite excited it's the last week. I'm going to be nervous on Monday, starting in a new position with a new boss, even though I know most of the people I'll be working with. I was overjoyed that yesterday was the last time I had to say goodbye to Ivan on a Sunday to drive back to Berri. And, unlike John Farnham, when I say it will be the last time, I mean it!

The only downside is the packing. I did a fair bit on Friday, and last night I packed 3 more boxes, but then I open up another cupboard, or go into the lounge room, and realise I have so much left to do. My god, I hate packing. Passionately. At least I'll get some help with some stuff at the end of the week, with Mum and Dad coming up on Thursday and Ivan coming up on Friday. God bless Mum and her cleaning prowess!

Crocodile Tears

Maybe it's a girl thing, I don't know, but sometimes I find I really need a good cry. Last night, as part of the whole packing thing, I was cleaning out my desk and found all these love notes Ivan used to write me, and I just started bawling. Like, a big, sobbing cry.

I'm not really sure why - it's not like I'm unhappy now or anything, but I guess I do miss the way things used to be. I think that's natural though - seems very rare for a relationship to stay in that stage where one person is wooing the other. Most probably I was just at that stage of PMS where I needed a good cry. Plus I have barely slept lately and it probably just all piled up. I felt great after the cry though!

Anyway so today I'm at home packing. I think I've pretty much thrown out as much as I possibly can and the rest is all to be packed up. Just finished the clothes before I started writing and my gosh I have a lot. Next, I'll do the kitchen I reckon.

Oh yeah, good times...

More new stuff

I've put together some Frequently Asked Questions. The link is in my sidebar over there somewhere. -->

Feel free to ask any questions you'd like answered by following the link, as it's hard for me to interview myself :)

Lettuce OD

Ok, there really must be an abundance of lettuce in this country. Lately when getting McDonald's, Ivan has joked around saying we should ask for extra lettuce, because the thing spills out of the sides of the burgers because they put so bloody much of the stuff in them.

I've been getting salads for lunch (too lazy to make them myself) and today I think my salad is made up of 7/8ths lettuce. No kidding, I think half a head of lettuce went into just my salad. They even appeared to have so much of the stuff, that not only have I got the regular lettuce leaves contained in the salad but they've also thrown in some of that shredded shit they put in the sandwiches.

Do the lettuce growers of Australia know their product is being used in such a wasteful fashion? That there is so much of the stuff that stores are, quite literally, giving the stuff away?

Times like these I wish I had a rabbit to feed back home...

Time for a change

So I've decided to keep my blog title the way it is, for now anyway. But I've been spending a fair bit of time trying to teach myself ways to change my blog, so you may have noticed a few differences to the template. I'm also hoping to increase traffic, but the truth is the only way to really do that is to write interesting things, so let's face it, that will never happen :)

I've been doing all this when I really should have been doing work too, but oh well. If you don't like the changes, well, too bad, because I do, hahah!

In other news, there's only a week and a half until I move to Adelaide. I really need to hurry up and get organised, but although I know I need to do it, I haven't actually started to do much yet. I am a complex being indeed.

I have nothing planned for tonight though, so I shall have to do some form of packing, even if it's just for an hour, it all helps.

History never repeats

Going to Glenelg on the weekend raised a lot of conversation dealing with the way the place has changed so much. The conversation was also had with my parents, where a lot of reminiscing about when my sister and I were children and we used to go to the beach was had. I thought I had may as well write the stuff down, before I get too forgetful in my old age.

My parents live in the northern suburbs, so the closest beach to them has always been Semaphore, but when we were children, my parents always took us to Glenelg because it was more of a family beach. Some of the things I remember about it are:

- as a family, we didn't spend too much time laying on the sand. Instead, we laid out a blanket on this grassy area they had and stayed under the shade of the trees there until we wanted to go down for a swim.

- when you got out of the water you could use the outdoor showers to rinse off, just next to the grassy area.

- whenever I got tired of swimming there was this big arcade next to the carpark. Not only could you play on arcade games but there was also a big Ferris Wheel as well as other rides and the Fun House.

- the arcades were cool but I couldn't wait until I was old enough to be allowed to go on the waterslides at Magic Mountain.

- next to our picnic area was a van that used to sell the yummiest cinnamon donuts.

- my sister and I used to love the Skycycles at Magic Mountain, and my dad and I would love the Bumper Boats.

- In year 12 and in the summer holidays afterwards, Susan, Sarah and I would often just drive to Glenelg to walk along the beach and grab a hot dog.

These days, none of the above things can really be done, and it's really sad. The grassed area no longer exists, the arcades are long gone as well as the rides, I have no idea what happened to the little donut van, and there is no quick rinse off using an outdoor shower. Magic Mountain has been torn down, and the carpark doesn't even exist. All in the name of progress hey?

Really, I think it's a shame to lose all of those things because the council decided to make the place one for apartment buildings and a marina, and far too many fancy restaurants. It's no longer a family beach. In fact, with all the apartments, the beach almost looks like a private one. What are the kids supposed to do while their parents sip on a latte? Oh, play on their boat I suppose. I understand the need for upgrades but they've lost everything that made the place the way it was.

Visited

Since Sammo was visiting from Canberra, the weekend was busy but really good at the same time :) I arrived home at about 8:30pm and he was already there with Ivan and Alex, so we just got some dinner and played a few games amidst catching up.

On Saturday morning Sammo and I went to this Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide. I didn't even know we had something like that. It was actually quite good, as they had a Spitfire on display as well as a C47 that you could walk through. Then ofcourse there were other displays, and I was loving all the original documents they had. I can't get over how tiny anyone in the airforce had to be! You could see right into, for example, a nose gunner's position, and it was like this tiny chair, and I can't fathom how people actually could move their arms to fire the guns. I mean, not only did you have to be thin, but it seemed you couldn't even be tall, because your legs wouldn't squeeze into your gunner position.

Anyway from there we took some lunch home, then Alex came and picked us up and the 4 of us went to Glenelg to have a bit of a look around. From there we went to the golf course on Tapleys Hill Road for a round of Mini Golf (which Ivan won, curse him :P), then decided to stay and have a few hits at the Driving Range. I had never really tried that before (Michelle and I went once but I think I only took one swing) but I really enjoyed it. I was really bad at it, but I enjoyed learning and would love to go again and practice some more. We then went, had dinner, and had more computer stuff for the night.

Sunday was pretty quiet as I think we were all a bit stuffed. Just caught up on the tv shows for the week, then headed home, dropping Sammo off at the hotel on the way. Visited Mum and Dad as usual, and then got home at around 8:30pm.

Anyway, so I still need a new name for my blog. I know people are reading this, now, think up some new name for me :)

A rebirth?

I really want to change the title of my blog, because there are way too many people who have random ramblings, so "Mel's Random Ramblings" is no longer original. Any suggestions are welcome in my Comments please. The person who suggests the winning name will win nothing but my gratitude.

The Visitor

When I went to Townsville in June I caught up with a few online friends from various parts of the country. Tomorrow, one of those people, Sammo, arrives in Adelaide for a short holiday and it'll be great to catch up again :)

He arrives early so will spend the afternoon with Ivan before I make the drive down to Adelaide for the weekend. Then I think we'll pretty much be doing the tour guide thing and showing him around Adelaide. Should be good! And the weather's going to be beautiful so it'll be a nice weekend for being out of the house. Sammo leaves on Monday, but I drive back to Berri on Sunday afternoon so Ivan will have to do the entertainment thing. Even though it will only be a short visit, I'm looking forward to it :)

So that's pretty much my weekend!

Revenge of the immune system

I think my body is really hating me at the moment. Although I've been generally eating better and exercising more, I don't think I get enough sleep and I think the sunburn recently has put my body under some stress, and now it's fighting back. I have not one, but three coldsores.

I haven't had a coldsore for years, I can't actually remember the last time I had one. But I felt that tingling before it comes up, and went to the chemist and bought some cream, but alas, my mouth still has three of the damn things on it. And they look so horrible!!! It makes you wonder if the cream is actually helping but I suppose it must be, because they can get a lot worse. But I can't for the life of me remember how long they normally last for, so they'll probably stick around for a couple of weeks or something.

Stupid run-down immune system, no kisses for me this Valentine's Day! :(

Big Day Out 2005

It's not that I haven't had anything to write, it's just that I've been really lazy. So I thought it was about time I blogged about the Big Day Out I went to last Friday. Bron, Ziggy and I caught the train to Wayville at around 10am and lined up for half an hour to get inside, during which time we noted all the people (read: freaky people) who had dressed not for comfort but indeed to make a statement. The statement I got from them was that there are way too many closet Slipknot fans.

Anyway we got in just on 11am, when Frenzal Rhomb hit the stage. Their music is a little heavy for me but Bron likes them and being that 2 of the guys now host a radio program I listen to I had a little bit of interest there. After their set we went and got lunch. We were hoping to get back in time to see The Donnas but thought we'd get our merchandise early, before they sold out of anything above the Tiny size. Boy, was that fun... We were in the merchandise line for an hour, and ended up with shirts that were too small for us anyway.

We missed The Donnas, and missed the start of Eskimo Joe but managed to catch the rest of their set. We then moved across to the Orange stage to see Spiderbait. They were undoubtably The Best Act Of The Day. Fantastic set, excellent interaction with the crowd, in one word they were awesome! When they were done we walked around for a bit and contemplated our next move. With so many stages around the place the clashes were about to begin, with several bands we wanted to see on at the same time as others.

We decided to go and see Little Birdy for a while. Thankfully, they sang most of my favourite songs within the first 20 or so minutes so we then left to go and see the last half of the John Butler Trio set. Again, just like at Wave Aid, they didn't disappoint. Grinspoon was on straight after them and I was pleasantly surprised. The lead singer is a bit of a show pony, and it actually made their performance more fun to watch. After about half an hour we went to see the Hilltop Hoods, who were very popular so we didn't really get to see anything. They were on one of the smaller stages so we were waaay up the back, but they sounded good anyway :)

Before we knew it it was time for dinner which can only mean one thing - more lines! But this time there was no rush, because Slipknot were on and we had no interest in seeing them. After dinner it was time for The Streets, who were the only disappointing band of the day. They were on a small stage, the crowd was insane, and then to top it all off they slaughtered their own songs. Oh well, they can't all be winners.

By this stage our legs were aching so we decided to sit the rest of the night out in the grandstands. A bad move, in hindsight, as we seemed to get surrounded by people off their face. From up there we watched Powderfinger and the Beastie Boys (they were good but they took this weird musical interlude halfway through which cleared the crowd). We went down to watch Regurgitator, then were hoping to catch the Chemical Brothers but the hall they were in was chockers, so we started walking home, attempting to hail taxis in the meantime. We eventually succeeded.

So I think that's enough music festivals for me for a while, I'm all musicked out (I know musicked isn't a word but I'm the one writing here :D).

The rest of the weekend was spent watching LOTS of tv shows Ivan had taped for me during the week and we also watched the move Saw which I thought was gruesomely good (I'm not sure why I love stories about crazy killers so much but I do).

Procrastination is an art

So you can guess by the title that I'm just taking a short break from work. It isn't that I have nothing to do, it's just that the task I'm currently doing is a little tough, so in between letters I thought I'd kill some time by blogging about nothing.

It is so weird, sitting here as my sunburn peels and aches, when outside it is really cold, cloudy, windy and rain falls at times unpredictably. How odd, that the weather can take such a dramatic turn in one week!

Since returning from Sydney things have gone back into the normal, quiet routine. I think it took Ivan to drum it into me, but I really need to knuckle down on this saving for a house thing, so this month of spending like crazy on Sydney and now this weekend the Big Day Out, will be my last splurge for a very long time. I'm glad to be moving back to Adelaide for monetary reasons as well as personal, because paying two lots of rent and bills has made my credit card debt go crazy, and I really need to sort that out. It's weird, it's like I knew all of this but needed Ivan to get mad at me for me to realise the importance of it.

I've found out I will be starting my new position in Adelaide on the 28th of February, and I can't wait. Now I really need to pull my finger out, and start this packing. I only moved just over a year ago but so many things have accumulated in that time, it's mad. I think this time I'll get some removalists instead of doing it all ourselves though, which will help, and work pays for it so why not utilise it.

So, as I said earlier, tomorrow is the Big Day Out. I have only ever been to one before, back in 1997, so I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully the rain eases up though, as it's never much fun for these outdoor festivals to be stuck under the little shelter they have with 30000 other people. So I have the day off work tomorrow, and will be driving back to Adelaide tonight, and the rest of the weekend might be quiet I think, but that will be good too.

It's so obvious I have nothing to write about, hey? ;)