What a week!

It's been AWESOME... ok work was deathly boring as always, but everything else has been exciting!

No change yet about the visa, we have to compile stuff to show G's (specific) work experience.  A detailed letter from his employer, 3 years' bank statements, 3 years' payslips, 3 years' tax papers... Other than the work experience documentation, we have to submit 2 other forms, which are forms with extra details and with details that enable them to do a character assessment.

We're going to apply for our PCCs next week, so that they're done and when we get them in January, we can upload them ready so that the CO (when we get one) doesn't have to request them!  We'll have to enter Aus to activate the visa by a date which is 1 year after the date of medicals or PCC, whichever is earlier.  So if we get our PCCs in Jan 2010, we have to enter Aus by Jan 2011 (because we're only going to do our medicals when asked to).  That seems fine, because if we do an activation trip before actually moving, we can set up stuff like bank accounts and 'start' stuff in Aus while tying up loose ends in SA.  But, if it takes a while to get a CO, and we don't get a CO before the PCC is 4 months old, we're going to apply for new PCCs so that we have more time in which we need to enter Aus to activate the visa because then we can activate the visa and move in one go (saving money on flights and accommodation).

I really cannot wait!  It's so exciting.

In other news, I have only 26 working days left til I'm on leave.  G's hospital stay is all set for Nov, and I've put in 4 unpaid leave days so that I can stay home during that time.  I'm SURE I'll have plenty to do at home, as opposed to at work because HBBM is on leave then anyway so I'll not have much to do.  And, it saves the hassle of bumming lifts to get to work those 4 days.  Plus... bleh!  Work!  4 days off!  No contest!

I haven't done much of my 'to-do' list this week.  This weekend I probably won't either, but next week I guess I should put my nose to the grindstone and scan those papers!  And then tackle that inbox!  Hehe.

This weekend is going to be a relaxing one.  I hope the weather stays beautiful!

It's done!

Last night, we made our visa application!

 

I can't believe it's finally done!

 

The actual application was done, straight away we got our Transaction Reference Number, and I uploaded all our papers that we had ready.  We have 28 days in which to upload everything they will need from us before assigning a Case Officer.

The 'dilemma' for now is when to apply for PCCs, because they take 2 months to do them...

 

But regardless... we've done it!

Un/progress

Wow-o, we had a massive thunderstorm last night.  Very bright lightning, loud thunder, superstrong winds, lashing rain and HAIL!!!  Oh my word hail like we've never had before!  It sounded like people on the roof banging with walking sticks.  This morning the sky still looked grumpy, but it seems to have cleared up.

This week we watched a few movies.  Night at the Museum 2, Nightmare Before Christmas, Watchmen, Finding Nemo and Over the Hedge.  NATM2 was good, some very funny bits in it!  Nightmare was very entertaining, an unusual story, and some WEIRD featurettes on the disk!  Excellently expressive characters, I loved the Skelington's face!  Watchmen was WEIRD.  Utterly bizarre... I guess I missed out on things not having read the comics, but it was still WEIRD.  And it had the most irrelevant sex scene in a movie!  G showed me the 'extent' of the scene in the comic book and it was about 5 frames.  Finding Nemo, I've seen before but G hadn't!  He hadn't seen the bit about the Squishy!!  So, now he's up to speed.  And Over the Hedge.  Very funny!  I loved Hammy.  Steve Carell was Hammy, and I could so picture him doing all those things too, having seen the bloopers and outtakes of other Steve Carell movies.  It was a very funny movie and fascinating to watch the featurettes (how they made the movie, etc).

This weekend, we made progress.  We dropped off teddies and clothes for donation to charity at Mom's and we had lunch with Mom + Sis.  I got some more photos to scan, yes, FINALLY, odds and ends from Mom to scan.  I now have horrendous allergies too.  There is just so much dust there.  The framed pics I brought home were coated in dust.  It was quite a struggle to get the pics out without getting dust everywhere.  

They got some replacement (to be-) built-in cupboards, which are being stored in my room until Mom's friend is able to do the installation.  But, they've been incorporated into the 'furniture' in my room, and are being used as storage for stuff she has to sort.  It's... so depressing.   As I was sitting in Mom's room with her as she found pics for me, she was telling me what certain things were.  There's just so much STUFF.  Indescribable, because of the quantity of unsorted items.

The most depressing part is the fact that if you suggest that she leave the garden/outdoor maintenance stuff and focus on clearing up inside so that she is able to move to a smaller place (so that she doesn't HAVE this problem - unmanageable outside maintenance issues), she just argues that no one would buy a house with a green pool/weeds/x/y/z problem.  I say to her that someone would, and they'd fix everything up (which I reckon someone would), or be able to afford garden-service, etc.  Or anything!  Regardless, it wouldn't be her problem anymore.  But no.  It doesn't compute.  I just don't see a way through.  There's just too much stuff.  I guess I'm destined to forever fret about her, still here in SA with all her stuff, in this unsafe country, when she COULD be with us, in Aus.  Living a free, uncomplicated life.  I worry enough as it is, living an hour's drive away.  It's going to make the whole move so difficult.

My 'chore-tasks' take so long.  Scanning papers I guess I should do now rather than carry on tackling that inbox (220 or so emails in that inbox).  The papers belong to Mom, so I want to finish them and give them back, and to scan them I have to sit at the desk, where with the rest of the 'chores' I can sit anywhere with my laptop, so I want to get it over and done with.  Oh and if I'm done scanning, I can put the scanner away and dig out Golden Ice.  Then, I can leisurely go through that inbox, backup my pc, go through my gmailbox, etc.  And after finishing that initial inbox, I can alternate between the gmailbox and FUN STUFF like stitching etc!

I can't believe I'm pretty much finished with the photos!!  7300+-.  I made a CD for G's parents, I've made a backup of all of it, I just have to make a CD for Aunt and for Cousins.  I don't think Mom has much left to give me, if anything.

34 working days left til I'm on leave, 192 til I'm done here.  It's nearly November already!!  Wow!

Friday

It's Friday!  A gorgeous sunny Friday.

 

I am SO BORED right now.  I have nothing to do... I've done some work and have it here waiting til hbbm gets to deal with it.  Sigh.

It's SO FRUSTRATING sitting here with nothing to do, because as ALWAYS there are loads of things I *could* be doing.  At the moment, at home, I've been going through my inbox which has a backlog of emails to go through and delete.  I have 254 left, which will take a while to do because I can only do it in the evenings and that's maybe 1hr or 2.  If I could sit for a solid few hours and do it, it'd be finished in no time.  But no, I'm stuck doing nothing at work.

The things I have 'lined up' to do over this next while are very dull, chore-like tasks.  Clearing that inbox, scanning old letters+papers from Dad, making a backup of stuff on my laptop, doing a lot of house-keeping with my laptop (yes lots of saved stuff that I don't really need), going through my gmailbox (2200 emails omg!).  Boring slow dull timeconsuming tasks.  But vital.

And every single day at work, I look at the list and wish that I could just get to DO them, instead of sitting bored at work.  If I could work a 4 day week, I'm sure it wouldn't take so long.  It's just the pointlessness of my sitting here doing nothing.  I want to do all these things before the end of the year, so that I can relax over the holidays.  I want to relax next year, without dumb chore-tasks to do, apart (obviously) from the usual day-to-day chores!  Those are fine, those don't take hours and days.

 

No news regarding the visa application.  I can't believe after all this time, circumstances have conspired against us and we have to wait longer.  It's already going to be November, and no application.  It got so close, within our reach, only to be pushed mere millimetres out of our reach.

Minimalising

Yesterday I finally tackled a box of teddies that was in the study.  I went through it, taking out the ones I don't want to keep THAT BADLY.  It's quite a difficult thing to do.  On the one hand, I feel strange, thinking that I don't have much that's mine, like, part of my history.  Like, once we find a house in Brisbane and move in and put everything in its place, there won't be much apart from functional stuff, or purely 'collectibles' stuff (like my My Little Ponies/Breyer/Julip horses, or my matchbox cars, etc).  But on the other hand, I can't really keep a lot of stuff 'just because'.  I don't really need a whole box of teddies from my childhood.  I had an epiphany last night, chatting to Mom on msn:  I can't hang on to them, keeping them in a box for the next few decades, because I could rather be enjoying the *memory* of them and some kid could be enjoying *having* them, at the same time.

I more than halved the box of 'keeps'.  All I have left are very special, like 3 knitted things Mom made, a Cabbage Patch doll, etc.  It's sad, almost.  But then, I think I want to give more of them away.  I'll see.

The mood I was in gave me impetus to go into the study and assess what all I have in there, too.  It's really not that much.  I've made a list, and I don't have that much that I have to sort through.  I'm going to go through that stuff and check what's what and sort them out, so that it's easier to decide what to keep and what not to keep.  G's got a far bigger 'stash' to go through than me... although I'll probably end up keeping more of my stuff than he will of his.  It'll be nice though to have everything organised so I know what's what and what's where!  And I really don't think we'll have much to take with us when we move... seeing as we won't be taking MUCH furniture.  Together, CDs, books, clothes and kitchen stuff will probably make up more than 75% of our stuff!

The wait before applying for the visa is already feeling long.  It's very exciting, thinking that in a year's time we'll have the visas (touch wood, and all that jazz).  What's more exciting is the fact that someone on the forum (a 175 CSL visa applicant) I frequent, has been assigned a CO after 2 MONTHS!!  That is damn quick.  I think I would pass out if we were to get ours THAT soon... but it'd be awesome.  Then if we got the visa soon after THAT, we could activate the visa and then wait out the rest of G's commitment to his work, all the while preparing and sorting things out (like bank accounts etc) beforehand.  But anyway, that's not LIKELY so we'll just hang in there.

In other news:  yet ANOTHER of my lunchbreaks was fucked up.  K who works just down the road from me sms'ed to ask if I was free at lunch, and whether I'd like to go out for coffee at lunch.  I replied saying 'yes, but I'll let you know if anything comes up'.

All was fine, until 12:50.  Yes, TEN MINUTES TO ONE, 10mins til lunch.  I'd been BORED the ENTIRE morning, with nothing to do but drawings to fold...

Hbbm comes to me and says "can you come to my office, I have an email to send off before lunch".

Oh god.  It takes 15mins.  5mins into my lunchbreak do I get out of there.  And, because it was past lunch-start, K was probably AT the bloody coffeeshop.  So there was nothing else for me to do but to sms and apologise for STANDING HIM UP AGAIN!!!  There's no way, at 5+ past 1, that I'd be able to get there in time (it'd take 10-15mins to get there, plus 10-15mins to get back, lunch is 45mins) to even ORDER something, nevermind HAVE anything!!!!!!!!

I WAS SO ANGRY!!!!!!!  Why the FUCKING HELL does this ALWAYS FUCKING HAPPEN?????  Seriously!!  I don't GO OUT during lunch EVER, I NEVER make plans, except on the ONE SINGLE FUCKING RANDOM DAY that I say 'yes, that sounds great' MURPHY'S FUCKING LAW just SLASHES MY FACE with a bitchslap.  It's not like hbbm KNOWS that I have plans to spitefully make me stay late into lunch, and TECHNICALLY I could stay out an extra 5mins, but JEES!!!!!  It hardly HELPS when you're supposed to MEET someone!

Seriously, I give up.  I don't know what to do.  I was so angry and frustrated I could have cried or broken something OR BOTH!!!!

I just FUCKINGWELL GIVE UP!!!!!  Murphy you have won!  I give you my fucking soul, you asshole. You win, you turd!!  I will never say 'yes' to meeting ANYONE during lunch EVER AGAIN!!!!  Are you HAPPY NOW?!?!?

WE GOT IT!!

ACS emailed G a copy of his skills assessment letter.

It says:

Your skills have been assessed to be suitable for migration under 2231-79 (C++/C# Specialist) of the ASCO Code

So, we are now READY TO APPLY FOR THE VISA!!!!!!!

I can't believe it's happening! We're going to apply before the end of Oct!!!!!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday thoughts

Last night I stayed up til around midnight.  I finished scanning.  139 photos in one evening.  It was an ordeal but I couldn't face another whole evening spent scanning photos.  Now that that's done, I have old letters to Dad and other old documents (like a certified copy of his drivers' license in the 1940s) to scan.  It's a PILE, but I'm sure I'll manage.  It's laborious in another way:  each image has to be given a specific file name because they're (say) pages in a letter, or front/back of a document (like drivers').

I have 41 working days left til I'm on leave.  I cannot wait.

Today I'm not on the switchboard at lunch - it's my Thursday off!

I got a parcel from Take2 today.  It was the 2nd of 2 orders, but while this one is WAY early, the 1st order is waiting for 2 things to come in.  I'm VERY pleased it's so early!  Yay, Take2.  In this parcel, I have: 
Miley Cyrus - Breakout (platinum edition - I love all the 'extras' and bonus stuff you get in 'platinum/exclusive editions' HAHA).  Yes, you read right, Miley Cyrus... Hannah Montana, say what you will but she (as Miley) doesn't have a bad voice and I enjoyed listening to it on the plane when we were on honeymoon so I thought 'what the hell!' and pressed 'buy'.

Mariah Carey - Daydream.  I listened to this tape TO DEATH when I was in school, and I think that I'd miss it if I were to move to Aus and no longer have a tapedeck.  Dunno, I haven't listened to it for AGES, but I think it's because it's only on tape.  On a tangent - I don't really enjoy her new stuff at all, it's too rappy and 'junky'.  Yes, listening to her EARLY albums (Emotions, for one) is quite a... time-tunnel, but I think her technique (and song-choice/style) did improve in the mid-90s, then from Butterfly, it started to change.  Anyway, I can still enjoy some of the music without having to be an avid follower of her entire life, so!  I also want to get her album Music Box, also for old times' sake!

The Orb - Okie Dokie It's The Orb On Kompakt.  I'm listening to this right now and it's mellow, quiet, unadventurous sounding background music.  Ok background music makes it sound DULL, but sometimes you don't FEEL like thumping hyper music which makes you wanna jump around.

Next up:  The Orbital - Blue Album.  Haven't listened to it yet, will do so once The Orb is done.

The other order that's still to come is:  Daft Punk - Homework, Daft Punk - Human After All, Paul Simon - Rhythm of the Saints, The Levellers - One Way of Life (best of), The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die, and Alex and Me - Irene Pepperberg (book).

No other news.  Oh wait!  News:  today, I have 199 working days left (total).  YAY passed the 200 mark!  Now to wait for Friday 9 April when it's 99!  Tuesday 22 June it'll be 49, and that's when it'll REALLY be close, unless the goalposts shift AGAIN.  It's looking more certain that G is going to be committed to his co. til end of September 2010 (start date being 1 October 2009), so my being at home for 2 months (Sept+Oct 2010) isn't too bad, but DIAC seem to be changing things all the time, so who knows.  I just sincerely hope that THIS countdown doesn't need to be recalculated AGAIN.  We shall have to wait and see.

Travel etiquette list

THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF PLANE ETIQUETTE

The company has drawn on its 12 years' experience to compile a list of 10 commonly aired in-flight grievances and to suggest strategies that can be adopted to minimise the risk of passenger-related turbulence at 30,000 feet.

 

Flight Centre South Africa's GM for marketing Liane Cowan said the unofficial guide covered a range of in-flight concerns from luggage placement and seat-related border crossings to toilet etiquette and rights to the middle arm rests.

"South African travellers are extremely good natured and don't tend to get too upset or let too many things overshadow the excitement of taking off overseas," she said.

"In compiling this guide, we have looked at the issues that have been aired from time to time and have suggested ways that these issues can be avoided."

1. Boarding and disembarking by row
Boarding your flight is straight forward – simply join the queue when invited.

Once aboard, carry your luggage directly in front or directly behind, as luggage carried to the side will leave a path of destruction (and more than a few headaches) among the aisle-seat dwellers who have already occupied their positions.

When it's time to disembark, don't try to beat passenger 1A to the door if you're seated in row 50. The passengers in rows 2 to 49 just won't let it happen.

2. The overhead locker
This humble storage unit is now prime real estate, as travellers cram more into their hand luggage to avoid checked baggage charges, to reduce the risk of lost luggage and to pave the way for a fast airport getaway.

Ensure your bag is within the required dimensions, only bring one and, wherever possible, stow it in the locker directly above you. Don't deposit your bag above seat 1A and then proceed to your seat at the back of the plane. Trust us – there will be flow-on effects.

3. The arm rest
Let's face it; the middle seat doesn't have a lot going for it. As you settle in to your window or aisle seat, spare a thought for the disadvantaged middle seat dweller.

If you have established early elbow dominance on shared armrests, make some space for the middle seat dweller, who otherwise faces a long and uncomfortable journey without arm support.

4. Chair reclining
On short flights (under two hours), reclining should be kept to a minimum and avoided completely during meal times. On longer flights, the one-in, all-in rule should apply.

5. Border crossings
Space is an extremely precious commodity in the economy cabin.

Don't attempt to cross your neighbour's border (unless invited) by stretching the legs or extending the arm span to read a fold-out map or a broadsheet newspaper. Changing the channel on your neighbour's entertainment screen, stealing peanuts and reading over the shoulder are also frowned upon.

6. Footwear
You're in close proximity to your neighbours. If there is any suggestion or past history of odour issues, footwear should remain on or should be carefully secured.

7. Mindless chatter
Before engaging in mid-flight banter with your neighbour, look for the obvious clues that point to a reluctant chatterer.

Headphones on or face buried in a book means "I don't want to talk".

8. Knees in the back
You're in a confined space, so the occasional bump to the seat in front is inevitable. Regular knees in the back are, however, almost a declaration of war.

9. Hands off the headrest
Like knees in the back, hands on the headrest in front are frowned upon.

Avoid the temptation to pull the headrest in front for extra leverage when standing. The consequences of a poorly timed headrest shake can range from mild whiplash to severe red wine spillage.

10. The bathroom Reaching the bathroom without breaching one or two of the rules above can be challenging.

So, if you're likely to be a regular bathroom visitor, request an aisle seat and empty the tanks before boarding to avoid the rush that inevitably occurs once the fasten seatbelt sign is switched off.

On arrival at the bathroom, "fast and clean" are the rules. Toilet-based readers take note – the complementary newspaper should remain in the seat pocket.

They left ONE thing off the list:  kids.  Keep your kids QUIET and DON'T LET THEM PISS OTHER PEOPLE OFF.  It is YOUR responsibility to ensure they don't interfere with other people, not the airhostess/es or other passengers.

 

*micro-rant over :D

A week later!

And it's been quite a week!

 

Various reasons, too many to list.

Work is still dull, but at least I've been getting things to do which is nice.  Right now I've got not much to do:  waiting for HBBM to proof-read a letter that I will then print onto letterhead and scan to email from his PC.  And some filing for a colleague.

I've been scanning up quite a storm.  I have about 200 photos left to scan (excluding Mom's odds&ends).  I want to keep my head against the grindstone this week so I can be finished by Friday - we're having the usual meet-up with M+J, sis and her-G.  Saturday is chores day, probably, and I have to clean the fishtank.  Sunday we're going for all-you-can-eat Indian lunch!

We completely rearranged the study on the weekend.  The mostly-empty freestanding wardrobe was moved from the bedroom to the study, and now everything that has to be sorted and tidied and 'culled' is in the study ONLY, and not anywhere in the rest of the house.  Or that's the plan.  There are some clothes we need to drop off (donating them to charity), I have a whole batch of wedding/honeymoon things to scrapbook (but at least it's a finite collection), and I've got some Cosmo magazines to go through too, but that's about it for the rest of the house.  It's so much neater in the study now, the books are all in bookshelves, non-books that were hogging bookshelf space have been put into the wardrobe and the luggage/bags are now in/on the wardrobe too.  So now there's actual floorspace to walk around in there.  It's a false-tidiness though, as we're going to have to go through everything that's been packed away and 'cull' it, but at least it's not CLUTTERY and irritating to look at.  It's liveable now. 

I'm actually quite amped to do the sort-through, but it'll probably only be at the end of the year (when I'm on leave for 3 weeks).  Sadly now is not the time to unpack things and allocate a permanent-place to them because we simply don't have space... THAT aspect of the tidying-process will have to wait until we move into a long-term/permanent home in Aus.

ACS still haven't made any 'moves' on the status of our appeal.  It's getting EXCRUTIATING now, because we are READY TO APPLY for the visa but cannot.  And in light of recent changes and impending overhaul of the entire visa system, we're quite 'eager' to at least get our foot in the door so that we are at least in the queue!  At present, DIAC says our visa should take 12 months or less to be processed.  So, NOW IS THE TIME!!!!  Now, while there IS a guideline time-frame!  Nothing for it but to keep looking in the postbox, even though the website should show any status changes AND G should get an email saying we can expect the letter to be sent soon.  *sigh*

I had quite an exciting stint on eBay this weekend:  I found a LocoRoco beanie and a hanging-advertising dangling-banner kind of thing.  The hat was an absolute steal (including shipping etc it's come to under R150 - considering how much you could expect to pay for a big-name-brand beanie, a hard-to-find, promo item like this for that little is BRILLIANT!!).  The ad-thingie wasn't expensive either, now just to hope and pray they actually GET TO ME and don't go AWOL in the post.

It's nearly lunch.  This Thursday is my no-switchboard-duty day so YAY!!  Small joys so sweet.

Sometimes I just cannot understand HBBM.  This morning, he comes to me and asks me about renewing his car license.  How does it work.  I say that if I recall right, if his license has expired (which it has) he has to go there to the traffic dept/licensing dept.  He throws his hands in the air and moans 'I CAN'T GO STAND IN THE QUEUE FOR 2 HOURS... GOD HELP ME, I'll have to get (messenger guy) to go do it for me!  God, I can't spend half my day there!  No way!  There must be some other way of doing it'.  So I um and ahh a little bit and then remember that I'd researched all this shit LAST YEAR too!  So he finds my note in his file.  You CAN renew it 'remotely', by phoning their call centre, getting a ref. no., making a deposit using said ref. no., and then they post it to you which takes 3 weeks.  They CAN'T do it, however, if it's already expired (as you'd be driving without a license for 3 weeks).  I wrote a whole story on a piece of paper for him, so as to avoid this scenario in future, but obviously it hasn't helped. 

But what gets me is the TOTAL INCOMPREHENSION, the inconceivability!! that he'd go stand in the queue at the traffic department!  No WAY!  Jees, dude, grab your big boy handbag and deal with it!  You're a citizen too, it's YOUR car, and YOUR slip-up.  You deal with it!

 

ANYway, it is now lunch!!  I have 43 working days left until I'm on leave!  Yay!!!

Boredom

I'm bored, today, it's 10:55 and I've been bored almost the whole morning.  Sucks!!!!

 

Right now I'm having Earl Grey tea.  I keep typing "Early" instead of "Earl" for some reason.

 

I'm bored.  I have some 'filing' to do (packing away some jobs into appleboxes), but I'm waiting for the messenger-guy to make up the boxes for me.

 

For some godunknown reason MSN at work doesn't work anymore.  Thanks, boss/IT for making work EVEN MORE damn boring than it was.  At least I'm able to use MSN on my phone, but jees, really.  And typing up on my phone is extremely tiring.  Yay carpal tunnel syndrome.

 

This morning, a lady from a company we deal with phoned me... she apparently left a message for me on Monday or Tuesday last week (when I was off sick), but I never got it... anyway, she wants to know about whether HBBM can have a meeting with her boss, etc so I check with HBBM and phone her back.  She sounded really ill on the phone before, and said "I can't talk long I really can hardly breathe" so when I phoned back I asked her what was wrong.

 

BOY OH BOY bad mistake.

 

She went on for about 15mins, telling me EVERYTHING in super-detail that happened.  To sum it up, she broke a tooth and went to have it extracted and it was long, difficult and traumatic and bloody and she's had a violent migraine ever since.  Oh and she's on her period "so I was bleeding from both ends".  Ok, sorry to inflict that kind of mental image on you but JEES!!!  Seriously... I think she's doped from something (not medication cos 'NOTHING STAYS DOWN'), to tell me all kinds of things, like her ex-husband was having their son stay with him for the weekend and her boyfriend was staying over at *his* child's mother and this and that and so on and so her boyfriend was 'sorting out trouble with his child's mother because she's suicidal and all that stuff and then he comes home and I'm like this so he went somewhere else so he didn't stress me out more'... jeepers.

Um.  Thanks for um... confiding in me.  A bit... unprofessional, perhaps?  A bit TMI... considering things like you're referring to your sister, 'the one with the twins' and I actually have NO CLUE wtf you are talking about.

WOW-O.

Concerns

I've just had an epiphany of sorts.

Ok first of all - a disclaimer:  I am not in any way 'knowledgeable' about SA politics, I'm just typing up my impressions of it.  Second of all - it's just my opinion/impressions.  Thirdly, I'm assuming that the 'readers' of this post are SA or are familiar with the names of the politicians.

 

Malema is a cry-wolf.  He spews extremist drivel and everyone wishes he'd shut up because he's a moron but nobody actually stops him.  I'm not sure what his 'position' is in the country, as far as I know he's not part of the ANC (ruling party) but the ANCYL - I'm not sure of the relationship between the two but is the ANCYL by extension the ruling party?  I don't understand.  Regardless, this clown is spouting shit and 'making changes' in SA.

But... what if he's PURPOSEFULLY allowed to spout shit?  In comparison to his rantings and ravings, the president Zuma seems sensible and calm.  Despite 'showering' to cleanse himself of the risk of getting AIDS/HIV, amongst other major problems (I won't go into detail now), he is a vision of calm in comparison to Malema.  But what if that's the point?  If people FERVENTLY mistrust Malema, and all they have to fall back on is 'staid' Zuma, he becomes a trustworthy thing, merely by occasionally 'denouncing' things Malema has said. 

What if that is the whole point, and in gaining unspoken trust and support, he is then able to make drastic, unfair changes?  I won't go into much detail here either, but it's just a matter of changing one small bit of legislation at a time, and we could be fast-tracked to become a second Zimbabwe.

That is very scary.  On that note, I really hope that we are able to move to Aus ASAP in 2011.  If we were able to move even in October 2010, it'd be great.  The sooner the better.  And I'm hoping that once we get there, we are able to assist family in moving too.  My sister, who finishes her part-time study for a degree end of 2012 - I hope that we will be able to sponsor her then.  And Mom, too.  And of course G's parents and sister.  I'm not sure the routes we could use (ie, skilled/parents/dependent family, etc), but I hope that we can do it.  Sadly we wouldn't be able to sponsor friends, but jeepers I wish we could do that too.

 

Ok, that's the post for today... unless I get inspiration for more.

Excitement

Today hbbm is out of town, so I'm bored (for now).  I had a bit of work to do but it's done so I'm sitting contemplating a little.

 

I have 51 working days left for the whole year!!

 

THAT'S SO FRICKIN' AWESOME!! 

 

3 months (including October), 10 weeks, 51 days til the end of the work-year for me.  Minus a day or 2 (or 4) for when G's in hospital and I'm (probably) going to take unpaid leave.  I just cannot expect G's parents or anyone else to take me to and from work for those 4 days.

Total time left, then, until end of Aug 2010:  11 months (including October), +-44 weeks (I still have to work out when I want to take leave so probably will be more like 42 weeks total), 209 days.

If the visa is granted within 12 months (as DIAC say) and we apply before the end of this month, we should have it by October 2010.  Which leaves me with 2 months after stopping work in which I'm not working and we probably wouldn't have got the visa yet.  Which is fine.  It looks more and more like G's going to be committed to his co until past October 2010 anyway, so it would work out 100% if we get the visa, go over for a holiday to activate the visa while he's still working and then come back to wrap things up after he finishes with work.  But it's all a matter of details, then.  For now, it's 'sit tight' for a year minimum, and try to stay alive at work.

I had a bing-bing moment earlier:  I just have my aunt's wedding album/s and my cousin's (few) photos to scan, and then I'm pretty much DONE with all of the photos!!  Now just to pester Mom for the odds and ends lying around at home, but I reckon that's going to take a while.  But regardless, that's going to be ONE HELLUVA TASK ... COMPLETED!!  I'll be able to burn DVDs for the respective family members :D

Means I have to pack Golden Ice away for a while, but I wasn't feeling very inspired anyway.  I think this task being finished is going to give me a real boost.  Plus, while the PC is set up to scan, I'll scan those old papers and letters to Dad.  Once those 2 large tasks are done, I'll be able to settle down and relax, with stitching, gaming and reading (etc), and just odds and ends to do like wash my teddies (the ones I'm keeping), go through old Cosmo's and give them away... oh I must also clear out my email boxes, save stuff on my laptop and then back it all up.  I think I should bump up that task to a higher priority so I can empty out my laptop a little.

 

OH AND... I almost forgot - something I remembered a couple of weeks ago:  I still have the wedding and honeymoon to scrapbook!

 

SO EXCITING!!!!!!