Disconcerted

Yesterday after work I noticed when looking out the bedroom window, a whole lot of wood and other stuff in the Habsburg's back yard.  I realised what it was:  skirting boards and tiles.  The place is still empty and wonderfully quiet, but we've seen (through the front window, when in the car in the morning - no, we're not spying) a wheelbarrow in their lounge, so I guess they're having the place retiled.  This morning we saw the front door open and some guy/s in there.

I feel so... worried about it.  I really really really don't want them to move back.  Really, really don't.  I am hoping and praying that they're having it retiled and are going to let it out.  I'm trying not to dwell on it, but it's such a disturbing, depressing thought that in a few weeks' time they'll be back.  On new tiles, with their goddamned high-heel clonky shoes, and the brat's toys, and the furniture being shoved and scraped along the floor, and so it goes on.  Back in the place, stinking us out again, disturbing us with their noise and lack of consideration.  I really despise them.  I've even had a nightmare where we'd just landed in Aus, found our dream home on a hillside overlooking the ocean, only to find that they're living next door and the places are joined, just like here.  I suppose we could, in passing, ask the neighbours on the other side if they know what's happening, it'd at least put my mind to rest, in whatever form of rest that may be - relief if they're preparing the place to let it out, or awareness that it's just a passing bliss that they're not living there right now.  But I dunno... I just... just hate these people.

Last night we watched District 9 (yes, FINALLY!).  Wow, what a tense movie!  Not at all what I expected.  I loved it though... it was so raw and real, and Wikus's response to his weird hand is just SO REAL.  Jees!!!!!  5 stars, brilliant movie.  Wednesday (for now) we're going to see Avatar (in 3D).  Can't wait. 

This evening I'm hoping to stitch a bit - haven't stitched since Thursday and the compulsion is poking me and I want to stitch right now.  I realise I've been working on Golden Ice since early 2008.  It's already been 2 years!  Ok a lot has happened since I started (wedding preparations, honeymoon preparations, wedding, honeymoon, scanning 7000 photos, visa application preparations, visa application, to name a few!), but it's been so long!  It's about time - Golden Ice's time has come and I must finish.  It's time to move onto something new... to try new things.  Time, also, to tackle Act 5 of Diablo 2 (LOD).  EERrrrghhhh!!!  So much I want to do.

Visa news:  DIAC/Aus govt are completely restructuring the system, scrapping the CSL in mid-2010, the MODL (a list of occupations according to which you are assigned points) is scrapped, they're capping and ceasing processing pre-Sept 2007 applications at 20 000 (which SUCKS for people who have been patiently waiting!), amongst other things.  I'm hoping that we are still ok, being on the as-yet-unscrapped CSL, but it all is uncertain.  No further change has happened with our visa application, G's medicals remain 'referred to Australia', whatever that means for us.  I hope it moves along, so we can get clarity on our plans.

It's 9:30am

and it's already boring.

Today is Thursday, in case the blogpost system doesn't show that.

This evening we're going to watch Eddie Izzard!  Can't wait!  Also can't wait for Kelly Clarkson, next month :D

As blogged last night, I've started on the second last colour, and it's such a pleasure stitching when there are only 2 symbols left on the chart!  It is still a lot of stitching, but the end is in sight - I really can't wait for that TOO!  I dug out the Wedding Blessing kit this morning, and yay, it's so much smaller than Golden Ice.  It might be the last cross-stitch I do in SA... who knows?  I'm super-amped to start the Wedding Blessing though, as it is so light and the colours are varied.  Gentle Strength is next (still... yes I probably HAVE blogged about all the charts ad nauseum)... and it's a bit 'daunting' as the entire fabric is stitched over.  Although... now that I think about it, I *could* of course just buy all the threads I need for Motion (as I have the fabric already), and what beautiful fabric it is too!  But whatever!!!!  I will cross that bridge when I get to it :P  But maybe, just maybe, the hand-dyed fabric might call out to me too loudly and I wouldn't be able to resist...

Some progress

I've started the second last colour!!

News!

This weekend, I stitched like mad.  I have 2.5 colours left and then it's FINISHED!  Yes, half a colour because I was nearly finished with it but ran out of the colour.  So this evening I'm going to try finish that colour and then there are only 2 colours left!  Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'll post a pic later once I've finished the 3rd-last colour.
Otherwise, this weekend was pretty chilled.  We went to N&N's place for a braai on Saturday - was so lekker to have braai food because we don't have a braai at home and always smell braai when people in the complex have braais.  Had fun and played Buzz Quizmaster again - G won this time :P

In OTHER news:  all weekend I had a feeling that something would change with our visa application on Monday (today).  I logged on with my phone this morning to check the status, and there HAS been a change.  The document checklist hasn't been updated with 'received' but probably will be shortly...  My medical info has been 'received' and my medicals are 'finalised'.  G's medical info says 'referred', and the details say 'referred to Australia'... I'm just curious to know whether that means they have a query about the results, or if it just means they've received it and are now processing it.
We will have to wait and see!!  I can't believe it's been so smooth so far - hopefully I'm not jinxing it by saying that, but so far it's been ok.  Eeeeek now we wait with crossed fingers, touching wood and all that jazz.
On Thurs we're going to see Eddie Izzard.  Can't wait!  I was a bit hesitant to go see him, seeing how flipping expensive the tickets are, but G splurged and got us tickets which seem quite near the front!  In March we're going to see Kelly Clarkson, can't wait for that either!  Ohh, and our river-rafting trip has been postponed til October.  But, if we get the visa soon, then we're going to have a quick trip upcountry soon anyway, to get the visa stuck in our passports.  So YAY!  So much going on at the moment :D  And I'm trying to finish Golden Ice before we get the visa.... let's see!!!!!

This is just a blogpost to say

I'M SO BORED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday morning

1st update:  our medicals have been delivered to Sydney to be processed, after which they'll get sent to Adelaide (immi dept), and then we wait to hear what the verdict is.  The case officer might request further information, but judging from everyone on the forums' impressions, it's unlikely that they'd ask for anything after they've requested PCCs and medicals.
SO WE WAIT!!
In other news, our river rafting trip has been postponed/put on hold due to a bit of a hiccup with people's leave etc.  So we are waiting to hear when we can go.
And in other news:  I'm happily racing down to the finish line with Golden Ice.  I have about 4 colours left to do (I've put them in order of quantity of stitches left).  I've run out of thread of the 4th last of the colours and can't finish it until I've bought more, other than that I'm about halfway through what is left of the 3rd last colour.  He's looking good.  This evening, most probably, we're going to the mall that has a thread-shop so I'll pick up the colour then.  Then I'm safely on the homestretch!  Wow, can't believe it.  I'm so amped, cos he's looking so good, AND I'm super-amped to start Wedding Blessing.  It looks so fun and 'light' compared to Golden Ice as it is a design as opposed to a picture (less of the fabric is covered compared to Warpony, Heremia and Golden Ice).  It'll be a good break before tackling Gentle Strength, whose ENTIRE expanse of fabric will be covered with stitches!
There is something that I'm hesitant to get excited about, but I feel it is worthy of blogging:
It might or might not be, but for now, it seems like THE HABSBURGS HAVE MOVED OUT!!  We saw the brat+his mother with a van+trailer (and accompanying guys), loading their couches and other items like breadbin, laundry basket, etc.  They drove away, and it's been silent since.  Their security gate is locked (they never lock it if they're home), and the neighbour on the OTHER side has been parking their car in the Habsburgs' bay... so!  We're HOPING AND PRAYING that it's true.  Who knows.  So, yesterday I MADE THE MOST of the fact and sat stitching with the window right next to me wide open, the bedroom windows were open ALL DAY (can you believe it!), and it was BLISSFUL!  I'm not getting my hopes up or counting the chickens and all that, but jeepers, it'd be amazing if it were the case!

Transition and thoughts

It's time for a ramble-pamble blogpost!

Our medicals were couriered off yesterday, they should arrive in a few days (Fridayish), and then it should take a few days for processing and sending to DIAC, and then we are completely at their mercy!

Time is slow.  It's a transition time.  G and I were chatting Monday about 'waiting' for a change in circumstances.  My point is that since we cannot enjoy where we are now (as in, living and working, and basically 'where' in life generally), we should wait and tolerate until we are in a better situation.  He says not to think of it as waiting.  My only consolation is that we're waiting and that this isn't how it'll be forever.
I recently discovered a new flavour of a type of chips we have here.  Simba Twistees - chicken flavour.  They taste EXACTLY THE SAME as Willards Flings did in the late 80s/early 90s.  The taste brought such a rush of memories!  Back in those days, when my sis and I were small, we'd go visit Gran.  In those days, it seemed like a long trip, but in reality it isn't far at all.  The skewing of distance-perception is perhaps caused by being small (when even the shortest wait is an eternity), having a very slow and sluggish diesel merc, and a father who did not believe in driving fast anyway even if the car was capable of high speeds (we never drove over about 100kmph, even on the freeway).
Anyway, we used to visit Gran, and on some occasions, we'd take Gran with us to the shopping mall near to her house.  In those days, it was more 'respectable' than it is now.  The place is very dingy and dirty nowadays.  In those days, however, it was exciting and we looked forward to going there.  There used to be a centre-court on the ground floor, with the floor above being opened above, and all the way around the railings above they used to have a racehorse themed display - the mall is close to a racecourse.  There used to be an amazing toy shop there, with EVERY kind of toy you could imagine, it even had a model-train set running in the window, if I recall correctly.
There also used to be a sweetshop there, a proper sweetshop, not a 'kaffee' like those we had at home.  When we went there, we usually got a prepacked selection of treats:  an animal-shaped plastic bottle of cooldrink, a straw filled with sugar (or was it sherbet?), a lollipop, a small bar of chocolate, a small packet of chips, and a few odd sweets in a little packet.  The chips were usually Willards Flings, and the flavour was so distinctive.  They are not flavoured now as they were then, but these Simba Twistees - wow!
Talking about those chips though, I am considering emailing the company that makes them, addressing their marketing department:  stereotyping IS NOT CUTE!
Putting messages on the packaging of products addressing MOMS! and telling them how, since they know how important it is that their family eats right/has clean clothing, they know how good the product is, IS NOT AMUSING!  It goes for any company, in fact, not merely food/cleaning products.  Do they not CARE that the world doesn't necessarily work in the archaic way that they picture it does?  There ARE in fact single men out there who eat breakfast too, and sometimes (gasp!) wash their own clothes!  Cooking and cleaning is not the exclusive domain of mothers.
There is a sauce we used on Friday - Knorr something or other.  On the back of each sachet (they were the same flavour - the other flavours had a different one) was an insipid 'tale', supposedly penned by a mother who was delighted when her kid came and showed her his tooth which had fallen out, while she was preparing sauce for supper.  Seriously, that sort of story is relevant to what percentage of the population exactly?  What has it got to do with cook-in sauce?  Would the packaging lose anything by NOT having a stereotyping message printed on it?  I doubt it.  Nestle earns my thanks (at least on a box of Multi-Grain Cheerios), because although they mention 'caring about your family's health', they don't imply that it is a mother's responsibility by addressing their packaging messages to mothers.  I am SURE that G and I are not alien in that he usually cooks and we both clean.  Seriously, can the world not move beyond stereotypes?  Isn't it a bit propagandaist?  A subversive way of normalising, by sending messages via a low-profile (and unmonitored?) sub-section of the media, the view that women are the ones who should be responsible for cooking and cleaning and looking after children?  It is perhaps time for a world-wide campaign against it...

Golden Ice progress

I've been working steadily over the past few days/weeks. There are only 4 colours remaining!

In other news: on Friday we went for our medicals and xrays. Xrays done in the morning, which get sent over to the panel doctors (for inclusion with the medical reports) and then medicals in the afternoon. I took the day off work. The medical exam was fine, even the blood test was alright, even though the needle hurt like hell when it was removed. But it all went fine, and the reports will be couriered off on Monday, I believe. They should reach Aus by Friday (or so), and then it takes approximately 2 weeks being processed by the health assessors, after which they get passed on to the Immigration Department for processing. So, any time AFTER the end of January will be 'wait and see' time. Eeeek!! Now the wait will be long!

PCCs etc

And.........
We now have our PCCs!!  The date on them is 07/01/2010, which means when (not if, WHEN!! heheh) we get the visas, we'll have until 6 January 2011 to activate them.
Medicals & xrays tomorrow, the reports of which should get to Aus by the end of the month.  THEN we wait!  WAIT WAIT WAIT!!  Eeek!!

It's been stinking hot the past few days, which has seriously been trying my patience.  I'm trying HARD not to be pissed off that we're essentially locked in like prisoners, but this heat is really making it difficult.  If it's cold, there's no need to have windows open, but with this heat, it's intolerable being locked inside with the windows shut.  I really am reaching the end of my tether.  I'm trying very hard.  I don't know how long I can keep trying.  I hate looking out our upstairs window, seeing everyone else in the complex with windows and doors open, and the back-yard of our neighbour on the other side all pretty and welcoming with fairy-lights and ground-level lighting and table+chairs and outdoorsy set-up.  Seeing it all is like a slap in the face.The fact that we are UNABLE TO enjoy just ONE window on that side open? ... I just... resent it.    Maybe I sound petty and jealous.  But the 'liberties' that are supposedly available to residents in our complex are not afforded to us.  What PISSES ME OFF about the whole damn thing is that A PERSON CANNOT COMPLAIN ABOUT A FUCKING SMOKER!!  Sorry, ma'am, your smoke is INTRUDING into our HOME!  How would a person be able to back up such a claim?  Preposterous!!  Sorry ma'am, your smoke ruins our enjoyment of our garden - haha seriously?  HAHAHAHAH.  Where are they, POOR PERSECUTED SMOKERS, supposed to smoke then... inside?  Seriously?!?  And endanger their child, and themselves, by suffocating themselves in a room of smoke?  Don't be ridiculous!!
So... I wish for cold weather, when it does not matter that we are unable to open windows.

Visa News part 2

Just an update, how awesome today has been:
Our PCCs are ready!!
Gonna organise for them to be collected, then YEEHAAA!
So, we'll have to enter Aus and activate our visas (when we get them.........................I'm not thinking 'if') by the end of this year - we don't know the date on the PCCs yet!

VISA NEWS!

We have a case officer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!!!!!!!!

G got the email this morning, and I've already made an appointment to go for medicals.  We can go for the xrays the same day, I'm going to put in leave so that I don't have questions about why I'm late in the morning and leaving early in the afternoon on a Friday.

OMG!!

I really am so damn excited I can hardly sit still.

So... all that we'll be waiting for, once we've done medicals, is our police clearance certificates.  They should be ready by the end of Jan... hopefully!  Omg!  That means we'll have to enter Aus to activate our visa before 1 year after the date of the Medicals (which is probably going to be the earlier of the 2, between medicals and PCCs) - so before Jan 2011.  G's gotta get a letter from his specialist... oh eek we have to have blood tests... yucky poo but EEEEK YAY!!!!

Yeehaaa!!!!!  A holiday to Aus!  Omg we're going to have a lot to do, gotta open bank accounts, etc etc etc.

Omg it's happening!!

Back at the saltmine

It is Wednesday today, part of a very dull week back at work.  Monday I got to work nice and before 8:30, and went to check hbbm's emails, only for the typist to come in and say "hi, happy new year! welcome back... the receptionist is on leave today".

Yayyyyyy!!
At least I survived, it was so boring and quiet I think only 2 phonecalls came in the entire day.  All 3 bosses are away and only back on Monday.
Yesterday was HOT!!!  Went out at lunch, met up with KW for burger+chips and OMG IT WAS SO HOT walking back to the office!
The evening was hot too, indoors downstairs at home was cooler but upstairs was an oven.  But we couldn't open the windows after it got dark because our lovely c*nt neighbours are HOME and FULLY BACK INTO THEIR USUAL.  Stinking the entire place out.
I KNOW I keep ranting about this, but seriously, we're locked in because of them.  I still wish they'd just die and emancipate the entire world from their presence.  It would be a better place.
It was nearly impossible to sleep last night, too, not because of the heat (we eventually were able to have the windows open, oh, at about midnight!!), but because someone's car/house alarm kept going off.  Loud, clear, and repeatedly.  And then, once that had shut up, the neighbours on the other side decided it's time to dismantle their umbrellas and deckchairs and put them away, at 2am.
Can't just stand at the upstairs window, with the windows open, elbows on the window-sill because they're there having supper/picnic/drinks out in their garden and it's like I'm spying on them.  Can't during the afternoon because of the Habsburgs and their stink.  Can't sit in the garden and enjoy the cool and quiet of the evening.  Can't sit indoors with the doors/windows open to let the cooler air IN.  Now, oh joy, we can't even have the OTHER side windows open without getting stink from the guy living on the OTHER side of the Habsburgs smoking outside his front door (the 'father' of the clan of runts who like playing around everyone's cars).
Can we ever enjoy living in our place?
Can we move out now, please?  Into a freestanding HOUSE with a GARDEN between us and everyone else?  With a GARAGE and fence so if there are people in our garden we CAN yell at them to sod off?  Is it really unrealistic to expect to enjoy your own home?  I don't think so.  Hopefully the visa hurries up so we can make plans and get started on our journey so that we can know in Aus what the outlook will be like so as to find a house-house instead of a flat/unit/townhouse blah.
ANYWAY!
I tried to stitch last night but wasn't in a great mood to get very far.

On an unrelated note, I have an idea, something to consider once in Aus.  A venture of sorts, but I won't go into detail now.  It's quite exciting, but something I'll have to be brave about - courageous, brave and determined.  I have to do research first, but it sounds cool.

GAWWWDDDD I'M SO BORED!!  I'm still sorting these damn drawings, I'm nearly done with the 1st job, then the guy whose filing I do has left me a SERIOUS PILE of filing.  Woot.  Then it's onto the 2nd job's drawings.  I cannot wait.

42 working days til the river rafting trip!!

Happy new year

It is, today, 2 January 2010. I wanted to blog yesterday, seeing as it was 01/01/2010 but got sidetracked by Gumtree.

A whole new year has begun. Our visa should happen sometime in the later half of the year... hope it all goes smoothly. Other than that, we have a river-rafting trip in March, which I CAN'T WAIT for. And we've got tickets to see Kelly Clarkson, also in March! What a month it's going to be!

And my work-plans... I can't really give notice (end Feb) and then take a week off in my notice-month, nor can I find a new job and start and straight away take a week off in my first month. So although I'm going to keep looking for a job, I'm not going to take a job which I'd have to start beginning of March... I'm hoping to give notice end of March and then start at a new place beginning of May.

The bonus of my having a new job is that I can then (hopefully) work until we are nearer to moving. I'd been 'holding out' for a full work period, ie 6 years, or 6.5 years (at my current company) but if I finish with them I'd still have about a year with another company, so I'd still be working (ie, no large span of 'unemployment' to explain to prospective employers in Aus), and still earning money (to go towards savings, for the move, etc).

I know things don't always work out how we'd like, but that's what I'm hoping for.

That's the plans-y things, now for 'news' etc: the past couple of weeks, I've been seeing a large, bright-green grasshopper in our garden. Then, one day, he* disappeared - I found the exoskeleton which he'd shed, but couldn't find him. I thought he'd been eaten or left our garden, until I found him again - he's now a large, brown locust.



The difference between grasshoppers and locusts, if I understand correctly, is that some species of grasshoppers have the ability to 'transform' in certain circumstances and form swarms, others do not; the 'swarming' species are called locusts. So we have a locust in our garden, but as far as I can tell, he's in a 'solitary' phase, and hopefully he won't go into the 'gregarious' stage and find swarm-mates!

We've made a step in the 'media-centre' direction by removing our TV from its cavity in the wall-unit. We've put G's computer (the same one I used for scanning all the photos) into that cavity and hooked it up to my hifi. We now have a music centre! All of our CDs are now ripped to that machine, so we have DAYS AND DAYS of music at our fingertips, ready to be enqueued in Winamp. Yeehaa!

I've also been stitching a lot, and I've been getting a very stiff shoulder. Golden Ice is coming along wonderfully and the end is in sight, sorta. I'm nearly done with the top-left quarter of the design, then all I have left is the bottom-left quarter!

Thankfully the Wedding Blessing kit is smaller than Golden Ice, so I should have it a bit easier by not having to hold up this massive Q-Snap-framed piece of work. J (in the US) reminded me that there ARE actually stitching frames out there which allow you to sit on the couch and stitch, which sounds super-blissful right about now! I'm thinking that it'll be something to pursue once we're in Aus. No point forking out $$$ to get a frame shipped out to SA only to have to cart it over with us when we move. And hopefully I'll manage the Wedding Blessing cross-stitch without it, and won't have the time to start a new cross-stitch until we're in Aus... let's see!

In other news, in Diablo 2 (LOD expansion, in case anyone is wondering) I managed (finally!) to kill Mephisto! Once I'd upped my lightning resistance kit, I was able to catch him across a canal and bash him with my psychic-hammer skill.

Then I raced through Act 4, battling with the 'fallen angel' guy (who was dreadful and super-life-powered so it took a LOT of clicking to kill him)... then I got into the 'Chaos room' where there were 5 seals to activate (to release Diablo), and 3 semi-bosses to kill. They were ok except for one, who ran so quickly I hardly stood a chance - only by running around and around the outside of a room, isolating his minions and killing them one by one, was I able to get him by himself and kill him. Then, Diablo appeared... it took a few attempts but I managed!! My assistant-chickie died about a hundred times, costing me 7200 gold coins each time to resurrect her, but in the end, I managed to kill Diablo rather easily compared to the fallen-angel-guy. I'm now in Act 5, waiting to start off on my first quest there.

Bleh, work starts on Monday. I haven't missed it. The only good thing about is that the bosses are all (apparently) on leave until the following Monday!

Anyway, let me leave y'all with a message for the new year: this one is going to be an interesting, eventful year (not even including the Soccer World Cup)! Bring it on! Here's to a fulfilling year, with everything working out how it should, or even better!

~*~

* He/she. Insects and other 'weird' critters seem to gain the male gender. Not sure why, but millipedes, grasshoppers, snakes, caterpillars, flies, etc, all seem to get the pronoun 'he'. He's quite large, about 8 or so centimetres... so he might well be a female!

Golden Ice update

Golden Ice progress!

I haven't blogged for a long time, well, long for me. I've been on leave and ENJOYING MYSELF for a change!!

I don't feel like talking about work now, just that it's boring and I don't feel like going back!! I've been chilling, stitching, playing Diablo, just chilling :)

Anyway, let me leave it at that... here's Golden Ice!

3 working days left

I have 3 working days left until I'm on 3 weeks' leave. God I can't wait. This miserable fucking place is driving me to distraction.

Today I was receptionist the whole day cos Madam was off sick - it gave me a brief respite from those damn drawings (still got about 100 to fold).

I'm just so tired of the place, the misery that sinks in after so long without actually having fun. There's hardly ever a 'light moment', everyone's so bored and autopilot if not busy-to-death.

2 colleagues' wives had babies recently (as in, last week/this week). The one guy was off from work today, and I heard the 1 director talking to hbbm about it, apparently the guy had taken the rest of the week off and would only be back on Monday. The typist informed me after I overheard the bosses that BOTH of the guys had TOLD the bosses of the probability of the birth/s happening ahead of time or after the holidays. But, boss(-turd)'s response (talking to hbbm)? OOZING SARCASM 'didn't you know, it's now the norm to take a week off paternity leave' and 'what's he staying home for? She's going to have to look after both of them (this is colleague's second baby) at SOME stage!'. Utter, despicable OOZING SLIMY SARCASM. I felt so angry I wanted to stand up and yell 'WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, ASSHOLE! Just because YOU hate YOUR wife and don't LIKE YOUR KIDS doesn't mean this colleague's in the same pity-boat as you!!!!'. Just because HE doesn't particularly enjoy HIS life doesn't mean the rest of us HAVE NO LIVES!!!

Jesus Christ in a Handbasket! I seriously don't know what is wrong with that guy! The utter lack of compassion, no, not even compassion, just the acknowledgement that the people working here are actual living beings with existence OUTSIDE of this morgue!!

I really need to get out of here!!! God I'm trying! I've been browsing the online job ads, applied for some, no results yet. I seriously (yes I've said it before many times) need to get out of here.

Travelbug!!

How is it possible that something like a travelbug can grab you so forcefully?

 

IT'S CRAZY!

 

Just browsing the tiny bit of internet we're allowed (our mailboxes), I saw a banner ad for viewing celebs' travel-wear.  And OMG I WANT TO GO ON HOLIDAY!!!!

 

I guess it's partly because of the 'eagerness' to actually move to Aus (or at least, to have some movement on our application so we can start prepping ourselves for the move), but mostly I think it's the 'without-a-care-in-the-world-apart-from-me-and-my-destination' feeling.

When you travel, you really are relieved of all mundane responsibility, and get to be responsible merely for your own travel, experiences, plans, purchases.  It's like a cocoon, of selfishness, I suppose, where nothing else matters and you feel cameraderie towards other travellers because they also are in their own cocoon, enjoying their own travel-holiday too, and you're all free to explore and experience.  The motives are the same:  experiencing something new/different.

And of course it's the newness of everything, the perspective and just plain FUN you have, exploring and learning about a place (like how things are done), and the orientation you learn, being in a new place with no inner-map to guide you.

 

OK THIS BLOGPOST HASN'T HELPED!!!! %-) WANT TO TRAVEL MORE NOW!!!!!!!!

Unearthings

I've been sorting papers (no, not QUITE how Mom does it), and I'm happy to report that I don't have a roomful of paper.  But boy oh boy I have a whole pile of hoss drawings, mostly mine through the years, but some of my sister's too.  And a 'journal' from our holiday when I was 8.  I'm so pleased to know (to actually, really KNOW, not just 'have the impression') that I don't have lots of stuff.  Growing up, being aware of all our stuff stored in the roof, and in cupboards, and in the garage, and wendyhouses, and every nook and cranny, left me thinking I had a colossal amount of things that belonged to me, but now, going through everything and actually organising it, I DON'T!  YAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

I found the old letters from my uncle... I was about 9, and there are only 3.  I had the impression that there were more, but I guess they were so cherished that they seemed like a whole pile.  But I'm glad - they've been found and I'm going to make a copy (scan them).

All this discovery makes me feel very melancholy.  So many people, that I've 'missed out on', because of the age-gap  (Dad was 60 when I was born, and his siblings were all around that age too).  Because of the age-gap, I really don't have a large 'family' at all.  I'm sad that there was such an age-gap, as had things been different, I'd have known my uncles and aunts for a lot longer!  But, things cannot be changed, and they were still precious family, much loved by Dad... and by my sis and me too.

It has made me think a lot lately about Dad, and the whole life-time he'd already had before my sis and I were born.  I wish he was around for me to ask about things, to talk to him about his brothers and sisters, about where they lived, what they did, where they worked... I wonder now, too, whether his youngest sister (my aunt!) is still alive... if I would be able to email her and say hi.  Before it is too late, as Dad, and his other siblings, are gone.  Completely gone.  Although it would be comforting to think that they are 'somewhere else', I cannot bring myself to believe that, and have to face the loss.

On another archivey tack, my aunt has arranged to have film reels, belonging to Mom's and her uncle, put onto disk.  It shows Mom's side of the family, until now far less documented than Dad's side of the family.  I can't wait to see them.

Completely unrelated news is that I've updated and put out my CV.  Despite the pending visa, I feel, once again, compelled to make a change.  Get out of this rut, even though staying in it would tide me over until we move.

The only news, at the moment, regarding the visa is that the PCC applications have been sent off.  Once again, any merit Postnet has garnered by 'knowing all about' PCC applications, they have LOST by charging R400 ONE WAY just to get an envelope there.  Another R400 to get it BACK!  Milk, the, market, assholes!!

I'm going to try make another arrangement, see if someone else can fetch it for us, because Postnet's *usual* price to courier something up to Pta is R120.

I haven't stitched for a long time, again.  I've been slowly but surely ticking off gross 'to-do' tasks.  The current one is the sorting of the papers.  After that, I just have gmailbox to sort out, my laptop to backup, and then voila.  Stitch and scrapbooking will get my attention!  Yes, I STILL haven't scrapbooked the wedding+honeymoon!  I'll probably sit and do that before resuming cross-stitch.

I'm going to sign off for now.  That's about all news I have right now.

Having a fantastic day

Today is being a real bitch.

Yesterday, and today, the typist 'informed/confided in me' that the
bosses have been talking. Hbbm in particular, saying to them that I'm
doing nothing and the typist has to teach me her work.

Hbbm says I'm not busy enough... so the typist says she told them I
also do filing, and they basically brushed off that bit of info and
now think I do buggerall all day. Ok it seems that way, because I do
FILING! Hellooo!!!

No, filing is LAST PRIORITY! RAH RAH Hbbm rants, blablabla!!! She
must learn everything the typist does!!

Nevermind that the dude whose filing I do bitches whenever there's 'a
pile' for me to do. That guy generates a full-time job's worth of
filing. And nevermind that I actually FINISH his filing and keep it
up to date. And also nevermind that I actually get jobsatisfaction
from it, however puny and 'inconsequential' it may be. But no, it's
last priority. I am going to joint-do typist's job.

I don't WANT to do her damn job. I am, after all, a measly fucking
ADMIN ASSISTANT, not PA, not TYPIST, not SECRETARY, ADMIN ASSISTANT,
which mean I get to do some of EVERYONE'S JOB!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Typist's take on the scenario: she thinks Hbbm is 'starting to think
about' retiring, and the bosses are considering when SHE is going to
retire, and they want me taught so that they will have someone to
'seamlessly' take up her job.

LIKE HELL. Her (cement-) shoes are too big to fill. R10k pay (I have
a suspicion that's all she gets :-S) for her job, no thanks. I do NOT
want her job of being a lifeless drone, with no out-of-office life and
no chance EVER to take lunch, and being abused and taken for granted
because she has to do eveything anyway.

To add to my happy mood today, I'm receptionist moron all day. Madam
put in leave for today (only put her form in yesterday morning -
lovely)... so yay here I sit.

To EXTRA add to this rather charming day, I can't find my phone. I am
hoping that I left it at home.

Man I hope this visa happens fast so that I can resign! Give them the
virtual finger and LEAVE!

Police clearance

Yesterday we went to the Police Station and had our fingerprints taken etc for police clearance certificate.  We now have to send the forms to the head office for processing (they do the certificates there).  It seems all fine and dandy, just a matter of waiting and hoping they don't make any mistakes because they are similar to Home Affairs who deals with passports/IDs/birth certificates who are dreadful.

We're going to courier the forms up tomorrow, they should get there by Friday.  Then we have at least a 28 working days wait.

Apart from the PCCs, all we now still have to do is go for medicals.  G's going to have to get letters etc from the specialist so that his condition is brought to attention but explained so as to avoid any hassles.

And if the CO asks for anything else, obviously, that we will have to still do.

Then it's just waiting some more!  Too exciting, how straightforward (touch-wood) it's been so far.  DIAC are in the process of reviewing the skills criteria and may completely restructure the system, but we're sincerely hoping that IT professions won't be affected.

This weekend looks to be a very busy one!  Sat morning we're going to meet up with M&J, sis&herG and have a Pony Party!  We haven't seen M's hoss for AGES, it'll be good to see him again and give him scritches and apples.

Sat evening we're going to a house-warming party/braai, looking forward to it!

And Sunday afternoon we're having a 'meeting' to discuss river-rafting plans!!  I won't give too much detail now, but in about March 2010, we're going to have a serious adventure!!  Can't wait.  Finally something completely out of our 'usual' world!

The video clip of G as a kid is very cute.  It's so nice to see, in moving picture and with sound, the scenes that I scanned from photos!  Really special to have a copy... we're going to try make a copy or if it doesn't work, get his uncle to make a copy for us.

I have 12 working days left til I'm on leave!  And, excluding these puny little working weeks until the end of the year, I have 8 months left!!!!  I really hope and pray that the visa process doesn't take forever, because I REALLY REALLY REALLY don't want to REadjust my countdown AGAIN!!  Enough already!!  Gimme a break!

And I've just heard *YAY BREAKING NEWS* that receptionist (*%&*$@) has put in for leave on Friday.  YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY I just CANNOT WAIT TO DO HER JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Sorry, this calls for an announcement!

 

YAY I CANNOT WAIT TO BE RECEPTIONIST ALL DAY ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I AM ELATED AND BESIDE MYSELF WITH JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Please can I survive this week and make it to the weekend... alive... please?

 

Uhh.

Play it again, Sam

I haven't listened to my ipod yet today.  It's about time!  I'm just 'standing in' again, so when she's back I'll plug and play.

I'm sure my sentiment is echoed by many, but I'M SO SICK OF HAYFEVER!!  Yesterday G and I hacked at the honeysuckle plant in our garden.  It was busy growing merrily over the fence, and I rather wanted it hacked back than risk having dumbasses pointing fingers saying 'but look at THEIR plants, growing everywhere'.  And I pulled out a strand of grass daring to grow near to the fence, trying to get into the Cancer-Clan's yard.  I'm thinking of nicknaming them the Habsburgs, seeing how 'weird' they are and how they look like sisters but maybe living together as not-sisters and there's a guy and another kid and a mother and it's all like some weird scenario but I couldn't really care less etc.... so it's a toss up between "Cancer-Clan" and "The Habsburgs".

But back to hayfever - OH MY WORD did I sneeze while cutting the honeysuckle.  And not because of the actual flowers, either.  Each time I broke branches, dust would be sprayed up into the air.  I'm not sure if it's just dust dust or mold or what, but it made G and me sneeze.

Now that the plant is cut, we can actually see that the chap in the unit in front of ours has a back door+window - we'd forgotten, it's been so long since we saw it last!  And now we don't have to worry about the plant and fence blowing over in a storm.  I just hope it doesn't decide to be mean and die now!

At one point while we were hacking at the plant, I realised G was still wearing his wedding ring.  I suggested he take it off and pop it into my pocket so that there's no risk of it coming off and getting lost.  Grand suggestion and all that, except somehow in being taken off, it dropped!  My well-intentioned suggestion came to nought as it took an age to find it.  We were both on our knees scrabbling around in the garden-debris-littered plant bed, trying to find it.  It was taking so long, so I fetched the leaf-blower/vac and vacuumed all around where it was likely to have fallen.  I reckoned rather to have a damaged ring than no ring at all... but after vacuuming twice and searching again I found it.  I'm not sure what we would have done if we couldn't find it... hire a metal-detector maybe?  Thankfully we found it though!!

G's uncle has apparently dug out an old family video from the 80s... he's sent a copy to G's parents, and we're going to get a copy too.  Can't wait to see it - footage of G as a kid, all blond haired and tiny!  As far as I am aware, there're only 3 videos with me as a child.  The first one was taken at a family friend's wedding... the cameraman panned the camera across the hall and voila!  There's me and my sis.  It'd be nice to have a clip from that, just to see us capsuled in time.  Second one was in primary school, when our class was corresponding with a family in the US.  We sent a short video of the class, with each of us giving a wave and saying hi.  I don't know if she still has it, maybe I'll ask her and if she does, if we can have a copy.  I just remember being excrutiatingly shy in it and waving like a dork without saying much.  The third video of me is at my aunt's wedding.  I wonder if we could have a copy of that too... I'll ask!  Such fun - apparently Mom's uncle has a whole box of video reels that Aunt is wanting to get put onto DVD - I'll ask her about it when we see them again.  Yay, so exciting - a new mission.

In other news, our visa application's status has progressed from:  "processing commenced" to "application being processed further".  I've asked on the forum what EXACTLY this means, because rumour has it we now have a CO, but G hasn't received any email yet giving instruction to go for medicals and/or supply other documentation.  It's been what, 3 weeks?  Our 28 days in which to upload stuff hasn't even lapsed yet!  Everything is uploaded alraedy, all that remains is to apply for PCCs and go for medicals/xrays, when asked.  If we *do* have a CO already, all we'll be waiting for (before they can click 'approve'!) is for PCCs (because SAPS is a slow govt dept) as medicals won't take long because the results get couriered.

The only OTHER concern is G's newly diagnosed condition.  CIDP, a chronic neurological condition, which in essence is confused antibodies attacking the nerve's outer coating and damaging it, much like tooth decay damaging the tooth enamel.  The nerve outer coating can, however, recover, if it isn't damaged too much.

G was in hospital for 4 days last week having a drip, which is supposed to flush out the rogue antibodies... but he doesn't feel any improvement yet.  And the treatment can last anything from 2 months to 15 years.  For visa sake (and for G's quality of life sake, obviously!), we're hoping for 15 years!  It hopefully won't cause any hassle with the medical exam, G will just need to get letters etc from the neurologist stating the scenario and hopefully Aus immigration won't go 'HEYYYY you're gonna cost us megabucks' and refuse our application.  I did some poking around reading up and found info for the panel doctors to assist them in assessing people, and the criteria for a person with a neurological condition seems easy to reach for us as G isn't incapacitated and unable to look after himself.  Apart from pain, there isn't much effect.  Hopefully this will all come out in the wash and the application will go smoothly...

Nothing else is news that I can think of right now.  I've been busy today and yesterday - helping the typist with a large complicated document.  Finally actually doing some word processing, tables and the like, the stuff I learnt at college!  It's now lunch time though, so time to go make my toast!

EULA

Good LORD but what a bloated, wordy IRRELEVANT EULA Windows Live Messenger now has!!

I just updated WLM... and had to read through the EULA before clicking next. I have NEVER read such a load of bollocks in my life. All talk about contracts and payments and if you reside in x territory your contract is with y company, etc blablabla, which is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT for a free chat application!!

I dunno, surely they can afford for someone to write a more specific EULA for their various programs? Jeepers!!

Finally, some progress!!

Progress!!

News and such

No major news since my last blogpost.  HBBM is on leave now.  It's been excrutiatingly dull at work, I've had nothing to do apart from folding drawings and reading Time/FM magazines.

G's off to hospital next week... I'm so glad I've got leave!  I have 22 working days left this year.  If I've counted correctly, there are 180 left til I'm done.

The visa documentation is going ok... we haven't done the PCCs yet, probably only will after G's out of hospital.  We're currently waiting for G's contacts in Aus to send him their contact details so that we can fill in a form each.  Apart from that, we're waiting for certain documents as proof of G's specific work experience, and then we're going to scrape together documentation to prove our ongoing marriage.  We may or may not be asked for proof, but better to be prepared and have already uploaded it than have to scramble around for it if/when asked.  Not much left to do, then we're READY to get a CO, and to get the instruction to do medicals!

 

OH YES!  News:  I got my LR hat!!!!!!!  It has upped the Awesomeness rating of the entire continent just by being here!

 

That's all for now, back to folding these lovely drawings!  At least I have music to keep me from going berserk!

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!!!!!!

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*!!!!!!!!!!!