Wednesday woooooooooo

Today is Wednesday.  I am happy right now, because...

 

WELL JUST BECAUSE :D

 

I was off sick from work yesterday and Monday, had a cold and felt really grotty and thought 'stuff it, I'm staying home'.  Thursday last week was a public holiday and Friday I was on leave, so it ended up being an unintentionally lonnnnnnnggggggggg weekend.

Thursday we popped in at G's parents for tea and cupcakes.  Woolies has chocolate cupcakes with mini-Astros - they are so yum and have become a bit of an irresistible treat.

Friday we borrowed G's dad's Jeep to take junk to the dump.  Yes, we FINALLY got rid of the old security gate, the dead microwave, a dead TV, scanner, some vertical blinds, etc, that had been stuffed under our staircase +- ever since we moved in or the respective thing died/was replaced.  We dumped that first, then headed on through to Mom's, where we got a 'jeep-load' of junk (literally junk, like rusted paint tins, a bit of soffit from gawdknowswhere, under-carpet insulation, some random wire spring-like things, etc).  I'd say that's quite an accomplishment!  Mom still (!) has to actually take the old things from the roof-cavity away to be donated/sold/whatever, who knows when that will happen, but at least there isn't this pile of crap building up in the garden.  It's a small but significant step in the right direction.  There is hope yet.  It's just a pity G's dad is selling the Jeep but I'm sure we can still make a plan to take other junk to the dump.  I must say that the emptied space under our staircase is such a relief - not that it was bothering me, but it just feels like the place is a little lighter.  I really don't think we're going to have loads to take with us to Aus.  Whatever we will take will be very special to us.

On Wednesday, G told me he has a secret/surprise for me.  Saturday morning, I had to have a bag packed for 1 night, and we were dropping Dude off at his parents.  All he told me was that we would be driving around looking for things.  After dropping Dude off, we set out.  The weather wasn't terrific because it was overcast and looked like rain but we basically 'raced' the weather - G handed me a paper with a map of sorts and said 'we're looking for Bamboo'.  He'd left a big clue on the map though, and I was THRILLED to work out that we were heading off for a LONG DRIVE to Knysna!!! 

It was stunning the whole way (amazing farmlands and hills and mountains), and only a few hours after leaving home did I realise that we would be going right past my cousins' place and that we could meet up with them!  So I sms'd my mom giving her some clues and said "can you guess where we're headed?" and she excitedly sms'ed "to see J+L??  you guys are rascals" (she loves driving trips and holidays and also J+L!).  We stopped for lunch somewhere in the middle of nowhere (it was beautiful), and then I sms'd J saying 'yo, you guys up for meeting up this evening or tomorrow morning?'.  We didn't make it to see them on Saturday, so G and I went and explored Knysna's waterfront and had supper at a restaurant there.  It's such a 'small town' and the waterfront is very small, but it was nice and so very quiet.  Sunday we met up with my cousins for brunch.  At one point after we'd got to their local mall, J sms'd saying "we're nearly there, L is just painting the picasso" - a humorous reference to her almost obsessive need to put on full-on make-up for all occasions!  They were there quite soon, and to my surprise they brought their mom, who I hadn't seen for maybe the better part of a decade!!  It was lovely to see her, and we had a big hug.  I really hope we can see more of them in future.

After chatting in the toy shop (G and I were automatically drawn into the toyshop by all the fancy toys like cars and meccano) for probably half an hour, we set out to find lunch.  Decided on a restaurant, but unfortunately despite being HARDLY full or hectically busy, they seriously messed up our order, twice.  And they were horrendously slow to add to it, and to add insult to injury, they charged R13 for a 330ml Coke.  Jeepers!  But anyway, we had a lovely time with them - and I got the photos L had kept aside for me to scan!

We headed off from there at about 2pm (if I recall correctly), and it was drizzly and rainy and at times very windy on our drive back.  We stopped a couple of times, but made good time until we hit the pass back into Town... it was backed up from the top of the mountain to further than the eye could see.  I sms'd my aunt who lives out that way, to find out if we could perhaps drop in at their place and wait out the crush of traffic, and it took about an hour for us to get off that road to head out their way. 

By that stage we both needed a pitstop, so we stopped in at a restaurant after searching in vain for a petrol station with a loo!!  My cousin phoned and then I spoke to her dad and he couldn't give us directions to their place so the 2 of them popped in their car and came to lead us to their place.  It was fun seeing their (tiny) place after hearing so much about it, and lovely to see them again too.  We basically just chatted, sharing news and hearing stories, and then as we were getting up to leave, my aunt dug out some more photos for me to scan - her wedding album/s and some other random photos.  Then they took their car and escorted us back onto the road home (there was a lot of construction and lots of diversions so we might have got lost), and then we were A for Away.  We eventually got home at about 22:00.  Monday I went to the doctor and afterwards we popped in at G's parents to pick up Dude.  He's such a sweetie and seemed glad to see us again despite only missing us for 2 nights.

So that's the weekend news, and today I feel so... distant.  Work feels so irrelevant, I feel like exploring the world.  There is such a large world out there, and I don't feel like I'm in it!  Maybe the holiday was just what I needed, except it was a little short.  Next time, we can take a LONGGGGGGGG holiday!!

News regarding the ACS assessment/visa:  ACS still hasn't done anything further, so G's going to email them later.  And the whole visa scenario has changed (but thankfully not for us - for now).  The 175 CSL visas, according to the DIAC email/website, will be granted within 12 months of application.  Which is good.  It's been taking between 7 and 10 months to process them, but there was never a 'they will be done by' time given, so at least we know now (within reason) that if we apply in October, hopefully we'll get the visa by the end of 2010.  Which fits our timeline fine.  I just hope we get the ACS letter SOON, so that we can apply and BEGIN!!  So exciting!  But it forces consideration and contemplation, as once we get the visa and move, we leave everything behind.  I think I'll sit down and think about everything, this week...

 

:D

Recalculation

I have resigned myself to having to work til end of August 2010 (at least).  I just can't sit doing nothing for 6+ months.  If the visa takes longer, I might have to work until end of Feb 2011.

So my countdown, today, stands at 56 working days left for this year, 214 working days left til my last day at work.

There are no jobs out there, and I can't study for 1 year - it's just not worth the time, money and effort because a 'certificate' in something doesn't count towards anything.

So, I'm pretty much stuck in this morgue for another year.  I am so elated I don't know what to do with myself.

Why are things so dull

So many thoughts, emotions, worries, concerns... sadness... and an inability to put them into words

Specumalations!

I'm bored... there are 100 working days (21 weeks) left until end of Feb 2010, and 62 working days (13 weeks) til I go on leave at the end of this year.  I'm so bored, hbbm has gone out to a meeting and will be back at 13:00.  His work is so much quieter than usual, so I've got less to do too.  I've been 'meditating' on my diary/calendar again... :-P

The ACS appeal status hasn't changed, but the 'case managed by' name is different today.  Dunno if that means there's progress, but we'll see.  I hope we get the result soon - BEFORE the end of September, if it's all good!

My rough calculations (optimistic, of course), based an international 175 CSL visa applicants' spreadsheet and other info that's out there, mean that if we apply before end of October this year, we should get a CO in about March/April 2010.  It appears that currently the 'average' no. of days it takes before you get a CO is 150+ days.  Then, hopefully we should get the visa in about June/July 2010.  The 'average' no. of days to get the visa is 200+, but I'm giving an estimate of 250 to be safe.  It all depends... but anyway...

G's work situation seems to be that he will be committed to the co until October (or thereabouts) 2010.  If we get the visa in June or July (or so), next year, we'd have until +- March 2011 to actually move there or at least activate our permanent residence status (it depends on the date of the PCCs or the Medicals).

So it seems that, if all works out right, we should be moving in 2011.  It sucks that everything has taken so long as we'd (optimistically, beyond all reality!!) hoped to have moved well in time before the SWC next year.  I'm still dreading the SWC and the utter shambles that will probably come straight after it, if not before or during it.

But anyway, the only 'problem' with moving only in March 2011 (or thereabouts), is... I'll have been sitting home for over a year, doing nothing.  I'll have to find another job in the interim... but judging from the current situation THERE ARE NO JOBS!

So I don't know what exactly I'm going to do.  But I'm not, CERTAINLY not, going to stay here unless there is absolutely nothing else I can do.  Jeepers even typing that makes me feel hell depressed HAHAHA!!!!  Another 6 months of this place, tacked onto my countdown??  Jeepers!!!!!!

So yeah, I have to sit down and think very hard what I want to do for the year.  I CAN'T very well just sit at home 24/7.

~~~

I seem to...

...blog most workdays!

It's Thursday, I am having delicious tea and have just had a chocolate brownie (I think that's what it's called).  Very yummy!

Last night G and I went to one of the local malls for him to get more medicine, and as we were walking out of the pharmacy, a guy who had been bothering the pharmacy cashiers/pharmacists made off with some stuff - he'd shoplifted.  The one pharmacist (Carl - a very unusual looking guy) ran after him... the shoplifter wasn't a tall guy, but Carl is VERY tall so Carl hardly had to run after him, and luckily a carguard/security guard across the road got in the shoplifter's way so Carl was able to get the stuff back.  Why the guy would want to shoplift some disposable nappies is beyond me, but anyway.  He failed.  Yay Carl!

While we were at the mall, G and I stopped to have supper (I'd planned to make sushi but the rice would have taken so long that we'd only have eaten at about 10pm!), and we also stopped in at the music/game/video/DVD/etc shop there, and I bought Wall-E for PSP.  After we got home, G, Dude and I had a hang-out session on the bed:  G working on his laptop, me playing Wall-E and Dude trying to eat the PSP.  He's not happy with sitting nearby, no he has to nibble the buttons, or climb up onto the actual screen while I'm playing.  Such a sweet cheeky nunu.  He's busy 'quilling' so his head is full of pin-feathers and he's very grumpy lately but hopefully he'll be back to normal soon so I can give him headscratches.

We're still waiting for the ACS result.  It's already nearly 8 weeks and their website says an appeal takes 6 weeks.  I've emailed them to ask how long it actually takes as the confirmation of application email says 12 weeks so I'm not sure which timeline to go with.  I just wish this would HAPPEN already, so we can at least have the 'satisfaction' or milestone of actually applying for the visa!

This whole week has been dumb.  I was so bored that I dug out all the file dividers in the office (that I know of) and erased all the pencil-names on them.  And I tackled the pink-folders and erased the pencil-names or tippexed out the pen-names on them.  It was a slow, boring, dull job which took ages, and probably will go unnoticed (except for the typist who actually cares about these things), but at least I was 'busy' and there is a visible result from my work.  Crazy, when you think about it:  I spent 12 years at school and 1.5 years at college, to sit tippexing all day.  I guess it's a break from filing and folding drawings, but it's still shit.  I will wait though, my time will be here sooner than I realise, I'm just waiting for this phase to finish.  102 working days left til end of Feb next year.  That's really not so much!  On Tuesday next week my countdown will have reached the double digits!!!!  This week is nearly done, then the week after next is a short week cos of a public holiday and a leave day.  Can't wait!

I can't think of anything else to blog now.  *snore*  back to filing.  At 1pm SHARP I will be AT the SWITCHBOARD for that COW.  And then at 1:45pm SHARP I will LEAVE the SWITCHBOARD.  How petty.  Dumb bitch.

Anyway, that's all for now.  *yawn*!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday waiting

It's already Wednesday, which is strange cos it feels like a Tuesday.  Thankfully it's a Wednesday, means we're closer to the weekend!

Nothing has (so far) come of my email to the bosses.  I've managed to ignore her the whole of Friday, Monday, Tuesday and today, as much as is possible.  She did, however, inform me yesterday (past 4pm) that the following morning (today) she will be going to the traffic dept to fetch her license.  Thanks, bitch for giving me ample warning... but anyway, I did my time, she came in earlier than 10:30 (her approximate time of arrival), but I don't believe her story of going to the traffic dept.  Dunno, she's a bitch and she cries wolf "being sick" and going to see the doctor when she has an interview, for eg.  Anyway, yesterday she whined at everyone that she had a stomach bug, and she came to work this morning carrying a large brownpaper pharmacy packet... so I dunno, hey.  I smell something that smells like bullshit.

Yesterday evening, after having a ROUGH day (both me and G had crap days), we got home to... the brat next door blowing a happy-new-year style tweeter.  What... the... fuck... is... WRONG WITH THOSE PEOPLE?!??!?!  What in all hell makes them think that it's FINE to do stuff like that?  He was standing out in their garden, tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeting the fucking thing at his mother who was inside the house.  And then he'd run indoors to tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet at her, and then run outside again.  What... the fuck.  Seriously, in a COMPLEX/COMMUNAL type residential set up, oh and I suspect that they have a vuvuzela too, because we heard THAT a couple of times TOO.  The problem is, we can't yell out the window every single time they make a noise, because they make noise ALL THE TIME!!  And no, it's not us being 'triggered' by noises, they just ARE noisy assholes who don't give a fuck.

I sincerely wish the other brats in the complex would see some sense.  Since they (and their moo mother who should tell them not to) don't 'see' the logic of NOT PLAYING in the driveway, the only solution I see is for one of her MANY (wtf, is she a wannabe Duggar or something?!) brats to be involved in an 'accident'*.  I wish someone would accidentally, gently knock her kid over with one of their 'PRECIOUS' cars, so that the obvious would be made, well, obvious!  You DON'T PLAY WHERE CARS DRIVE!  But the big flaw in that 'lesson' is that the driver of the car would be blamed and everything would be THEIR fault, of COURSE it wouldn't be the brat or their mother at fault!

Anyway, G and I are both feeling the 'lack' of point of having this 'wonderful' home with garden+windows+carport and everything, if we can't even enjoy it, despite paying the rent for it.  Out of curiosity, I looked online to see if there were any places out there, but they're all terrible and majorly expensive, so I guess all we can do is stick it out until we move and we can get a small FREESTANDING home on its OWN PLOT/ERF.

I'm comforted by the fact that it's not just me who feels this way, but it sucks to have to stick around for an uncertain length of time because we just don't know when we'll get the visa.  A person sometimes just wishes for a bit of peace and quiet at home after a SHITTY DAY AT THE OFFICE but it seems an impossible piece of heaven that no one is entitled to.

*  I don't wish horrible accidents on anyone, but sometimes there's just this extreme need for a bit of commonsense reinforcement.  Call it karma?  Or maybe 'carma' HARDYHAR!!!!

Reading and contemplation

I'm currently reading up on Australia. Queensland, Brisbane, Sydney, New South Wales, etc.

I have found out 2 things:

Jørn Utzon died in the same month that we went to see the Sydney Opera House. We got to see the Sydney Opera House, which he never got to see despite having designed and built (most of) it. Somehow, it's touching... makes me feel weird. I know LOADS of people go to the Opera House every day, but *our* visit happened to be that particular month. Hectic though, he was 90!

The second thing I found out is this: the area in Redfern that we walked around (lost) trying to find our hotel, is a block or 2 away from The Block.

Wikipedia has the following to say about The Block:

The Block is a colloquial but universally applied name given to a block of housing in Redfern Sydney. The block was purchased over a period of 30 years by the Aboriginal Housing Company (AHC) for use as a project in Aboriginal-managed housing.

The Block is probably the most famous feature of the suburb of Redfern, although in point of fact it is located on the western border of that suburb, on the edge of Darlington. The focus of life in the Block has always been Eveleigh Street, which is its eastern border, with railway lines on the other side of that street.

This area and surrounds has a high street crime rate and is "no go area" for Sydney Taxi Drivers. This is exacerbating the racism experienced by the diverse members of the community, who are being refused taxi service.

The area around The Block is now reportedly the subject of plans for massive redevelopment by private developers at the instigation of the New South Wales state government - see Redfern-Eveleigh-Darlington.

Seriously, a dangerous area, which the hotel front-desk guy warned us about, saying 'never, never go there'. We walked through there, as touristy as could be (save for a Hawaiian shirt or 2), dragging luggage and suitcase, lost, at about 7pm. We are still alive. Nothing happened! I'm not saying it isn't a dangerous area, just that it's evidently NOT AS BAD AS CAPE TOWN CITY ANYWHERE!!!

I'm so looking forward to living in Aus!!! Where to choose to live?! Probably Brisbane, with lots of holidays to the other cities :D Can't wait!

I'm sorry, BITCH, but I've had enough

I have seriously HAD IT with the receptionist.

A bit of background: I'm first in line to stand in for the receptionist whenever she needs to go away from her desk. It is just one of my duties. Officially, it is so that she can go to the toilet or make a cup of tea or attend to some work that requires her being away from her desk, but unofficially (based on 'good working relationship') it allows for her to go make tea, toast sandwiches, quickly run out to draw money, etc. It is one of those give and take things.

Except, she's been abusing me.

A few weeks ago, at 1pm (lunchtime), I was warming some lunch (pizza leftovers) in the microwave, and passed her desk bringing a cup of hot chocolate to my desk. She asked me if she could quickly go to the toilet, so I asked her why the accountant (whose switchboard lunch-duty day it was) wasn't there yet. She said that she'd volunteered to sit through lunch for her, as the accountant had a headache. I told her she could quickly go, while my food was in the microwave, so that I didn't have to wait (and let it go cold) once it was ready (because she would be back by then).

She took 10minutes, while I was waiting, to go to the toilet. Except, she didn't JUST go to the toilet, SHE MADE HER LUNCH THEN TOO. I went towards the kitchen and met her coming out with her food, and said to her "I thought you were just going to the loo..?? I've been listening the whole time" so she replied "I was listening from the kitchen". Nice, you could have TOLD ME so that I could have eaten before my FOOD WENT COLD! Thank you for volunteering to stand in for someone then USING MY LUNCHBREAK instead!!!!

Anyway, today, at 1pm, I'm getting up to go warm my lunch (pizza leftovers again), as, although Thursdays are my switchboard lunch-duty days, today is my once-in-6-weeks Thursday off. She says "can I just go to the loo and make tea", so, because my food isn't yet warming/going cold, I agree. I head to the kitchen, after 5mins, to make some tea in the meantime, to find her TOASTING SANDWICHES AND MAKING A WHOLE GOURMET MEAL. I say "you're making food now??" so she says "yes, I said I was going to make tea" so I said "tea, you said tea, not lunch", so she replies "tea is food, is the same thing" so I said "no, tea is tea, tea tea"... I was so angry I just left my mug there and stormed back to my desk so that I wouldn't lose it and give her a slap.

She took FIFTEEN MINUTES of MY lunchbreak.

I waited, til I'd cooled off (after having my food and tea), and wrote a civil email to her:

(her name)

Please can we reach an agreement regarding lunch times.

I am happy to stand in for you to make food/go to the toilet on the days where you have to sit at the switchboard during lunch, as I understand about being hungry and having to sit at the phone without actually getting a lunchbreak the whole day.

But please don’t do it during my lunch break - plan ahead and ask me BEFORE 13:00. It is my lunch time that you are using up and I don’t get the time back afterwards because my hours resume at 13:45 (that is when lunch time is officially over and I have to be available immediately for Mr Colussi or whoever else may need me urgently). When I sit at the switchboard on normal Thursdays, I usually don’t get the time back afterwards to have my OWN lunch for this same reason, so I basically miss out on a lunchbreak most Thursdays.

As the receptionist, I didn’t have anyone like a (my name) who is there to sit for you whenever you wish, I had to run to and from the kitchen to make my food outside of lunch-time, so as to go during a quiet time when I could hear the phone from the kitchen. I am happy to listen for you so that you don’t have to starve or run around, but I’m not happy about doing this if you abuse my goodwill by using up my lunch time.

I don’t want to stir up hard feelings or have an argument, but I have to bring it up so that we can resolve it.

I would not call that a rude or aggressive email.

I, however, get this as a reply. Please bear with me, it is pasted verbatim (yes, she really IS THIS FUCKING ILLITERATE):

You know that mostly before one I get so busy and normally you get here at 1:05 or 13:10 have I complain about that NO!!!!!!!!!! starting from now you will be here from 13h00 and I will do the same to you, I didn’t think I was abusing your goodwill which so you were also abusing mine by coming late to releave me, starting from now you will be here at 13h00 sharp and I’ll be back at 13:45 sharp as well, no lhard feeling is that you just know how are welling to help and not I always know you don’t like to help when it comes to switch board.

. As the receptionist, I didn’t have anyone like a (my name) who is there to sit for you whenever you wish, I had to run to and from the kitchen to make my food outside of lunch-time, so as to go during a quiet time when I could hear the phone from the kitchen. I am happy to listen for you so that you don’t have to starve or run around, but I’m not happy about doing this if you abuse my goodwill by using up my lunch time.

This highlighted one I wont urgeu about because it was like this before I came.

The italics is her quoting my email.

Oh, my, god. I cannot believe her GALL!! And then to go on and accuse me of being LATE to relieve her?!?!?!?!??!?!?! I am never late unless my BOSS has delayed me. I go and make my tea BEFORE lunch so that I am READY AT 13:00, but she often makes me wait while she tidies up her desk, which can take 5mins and wastes time. Not to mention her often coming BACK late!! The UTTER CHEEK to reply with such a lie, I'm just ... baffled. Enraged!

I have emailed the bosses, as this is UNACCEPTABLE. I tried to resolve this amicably, but she turns around and LIES and gets all aggressive about it.

I'm so fed up. If I get crap from EITHER the bosses, or her, I'm going to resign. I'm sorry, but this is unacceptable.

BRT

BRT stands for Bus Rapid Transit.  It is a system that is being put in place to provide public transport, supplementing the train, bus, taxi and private transport systems, so that there will be sufficient transport systems in place ready for the Soccer World Cup, next year.

Or it is supposed to be.  Except, the taxi mob have got it into their heads that this BRT is going to threaten their jobs*.  So, instead of 'adapt or die', they've decided to SHOOT AT THE BUSES.  Killing commuters... shooting at the buses.  How DARE the public use OTHER MODES OF TRANSPORT?!?!??!?!?!?

Oh... my... god... what the fuck is wrong with these people?  Seriously, where else in the WHOLE WORLD do you find people so VIOLENTLY anti-progress??

*  if people had a CHOICE, they would never USE those bloody taxis in the first place!  They essentially have a monopoly due to sheer lack of CHOICE on the part of the commuters, who are mostly very poor people who can't afford anything else.  So these terrorists feel that their monopoly will be affected, thereby losing them money, etc etc, nevermind the little FACT that TOURISTS WOULD NEVER USE their flipping 'services' ANYWAY, so they wouldn't have be MAKING any money off them in the first place!!