Reflection

We have exactly 131 days.  I have 7 working days left... 2 weeks, and September is finished.  Leaving us with exactly 4 months before we fly. 

Last weekend we emailed for quotes on moving our stuff, so far we haven't had anyone over to give a quote.  HULLO CHAPS.

Four months... 120+ days... and we're gone.  Everything has to be done well in time before we go. 

I'm probably going to be moving my fish in December.  Sis has agreed to look after them for me - it'll be better having them in the family (so I can keep up to date with their news) and it hopefully won't be a big burden as they shouldn't have YEARS AND YEARS ahead of them, or should I say, MOST of them shouldn't:  the kuhli loaches have maybe 10 more years!  But regardless, I'm looking to move them (back!) in December so that there is a little time for me to help out before I go (time for me to give Sis a crashcourrse in fishkeeping). 

2 months for us to do all our preparations because December is The month.  Action month where we get everything going.  2 months for everything... will we have enough time?

G's borrowed his dad's electric sander, so we'll probably start tackling our wooden furniture soon.  I can't wait to sit, quietly and peacefully, at home and go through my stuff.  I think it will be therapeutic.  A shedding of old 'skin'.

7 more days of work.  GOD DAMN BUT I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT to be out of this place.

No. No, no. Please.

YOU WON!

Damnit I want to sleep, I don't care.  Leave me alone, gayking, I don't want to click anymore.

Go away and stop holding your cards out in front of my face.

I don't want to click!

Damn you, gayking.

You made me click.

Is it possible to be MORE BORED THAN THIS?

I've been bringing the Living&Working book with me to work every day, and tagging info with slivers of post-it notes.  I will upload a pic of the book sometime, so you can see exactly how many tags there are.

It's a very interesting book, it's not OVERLY factually boring because it's written in a fresh tone and it's well divided into relevant chapters.

Work is... more and more and more dull, every moment that goes past worse than the previous.  I have approximately 316 hours until I am free (those are total hours, not working hours), 8 working days only.  I AM SO EYE-GOUGINGLY BORED I don't actually know what to do anymore.  I can't surf the net for Aus information, which would be really handy about now, so all I do is play solitaire/freecell/spider solitaire.  I have gchat open (but it's quiet there) and I play music through the ipod earphones which at least is SOME form of companionship.  Oh and I check FB/Twitter on my phone now and then.

I am SO BORED.

I don't know what I'm actually going to do at home, every day, but at least I won't have to fake being interested.  Unlike when I am at work, if I'm not interested in something I can scowl and stamp my feet and 'indulge' in being unwilling, which is all I ever FEEL like doing now that it's so excrutiatingly dull at work.

I think we're going to have an easier time sorting our stuff out.  We're waiting for proper arrangements with moving companies to come and give quotes, but at least in the meantime we did a walkthrough of the house with the inventory form one of the companies gave us, filling it in.  We don't really have that much stuff.  I think we had better look for a lounge suite hehe.

Our ornaments and things shouldn't be too much hassle.  They will undoubtably be scrutinised by customs/quarantine, but hopefully none of the things will need treatment.  I think of all my stuff (that I can think of, for now), that would possibly need treatment (because of customs/quarantine department's paranoia) would be the Tibetan compartment house, the chicken-bone sailing boat and the 3 'spiritual guide' wooden birds.  Everything else should be ok... hopefully.  We're going to double-check though and varnish/oil things anyway just to be on the safe side.

I just wish we could get started and unpack our stuff and look through everything.

I haven't stitched in ages.  I just don't feel like it these days.  Every evening I am just exhausted after a day at work spent fretting and frustrated at being bored.  Which means I cannot accomplish anything useful in the home-time after work.  Things seem so drawn out and un-FIXED now... waiting for appointments and waiting for this and that oh and waiting for payday to get the washmachine fixed and waiting to buy clothes etc.

Dullness... how well I know you.  I think if I were at home and THIS EXTREMELY BORED I would sleep the day away.  This is so painful.  I wonder if it's possible for someone's brain's chemical composition to be altered permanently by being SO FUCKING BORED.

I'm going to try attach a pic to this blogpost to show you how bored I am.  We call him Gayking.  It's become a sort of altered word, as in "I'm gayking a cake".  (it's not meant to offend anyone, it's just an indication of just how bored I get at work).

Pondering and Planning

I have 12 working days left today... and it's so boring!!

 

This weekend was rather fun, Saturday we went for a nice long, leisurely sunny drive down the Peninsula, with video camera and tripod in hand!  The weather was perfect, and we stopped at Tibet for lunch as well so we could enjoy lunch with a good view.  We stopped at various spots to take videos, and on the whole the day was very relaxing :D

 

Sunday we did chores and popped to the shops to buy groceries, but apart from that we pretty much just chilled.  I tackled the wildly overgrown grass in the garden:  the people who re-did the roof and the people who installed the doors/windows just lazily/inconsiderately tossed a whole stack of junk (10cm long nails, screws, cement chunks, roof-sealant peels, etc) into the grass, so it would be suicide to try to mow the grass.  This means tackling it with parrotnose cutters.  It took ages, it exhausted my back, I'm stiff today and I have a 1cm diameter blister on my thumb, and I've only done 1/4.  To be continued.  I did manage to prick my finger with a crazily sharp piece of metal in the grass (yay thank you assholes for tossing THAT!), but hopefully I won't die.  Oh and there are also tiny little metal shavings in the grass too - they give me the utter creeps (horror visions of barefeet and splinters), so I've been trying to dig them out of the grass/sand as thoroughly as I can.

 

Ok that's entirely too much minutae about gardening isn't it.

 

We sent off some quote requests from moving companies last night.  That's our next big mission: junk culling, assessing our stuff and deciding on steps forward.

 

One major concern will be what to do with our wooden stuff.  Ornaments, furniture, etc, will each have to be looked at and we'll need to decide with each thing whether to keep it and take it with us or not, and if we are taking it, what to do to it to ensure it doesn't cause hassles at customs/quarantine/inspection in Aus.

 

It's going to be quite fun going through our stuff, itemising it all and making an inventory, but one thing I'm not looking so forward to is numbering and listing all our CDs, DVDs and books.  I think it'll take ages, but in light of stuff getting 'lost' or stolen, knowing exactly what is missing would help a lot.

 

138 days til we fly... sounds far too little time!

Ke Nako!!

Fil it, it is hieh!

I have 14 working days left. 3 weeks until I am free. It feels
disturbingly short, and yet at the same time, if I imagine another
month tagged onto the end, it feels depressing even though it'd only
be 4 weeks extra. So, now is the time, this is the month. I still
haven't told everyone at work, in fact only the 3 bosses, the typist,
the accountant and 1 other colleague know (that I know of). I don't
really know how to go about telling everyone... as it is, I don't
exactly CHAT CHAT CHAT with them a lot, so my all of a sudden out of
the blue striking up a 'GUESS WHAT' conversation would feel weird.

We have 142 days until we leave. I have started going through my copy
of the book "Living and Working in Australia - David Hampshire" (link
to be added when I'm at home), sticking in lots of little post-it
notes to mark off stuff relevant to our move. Some sections aren't
relevant anymore (Visas), and some aren't relevant yet (Education,
Sports, Entertainment), but others (Finding A Job) are really
important!

This month we are going to get movers in to give quotes on our stuff.
There are a few other things still to do, unrelated to the move (get
the washmachine fixed, buy new clothes), which must be done soon too.
One of the things to do is buy an external hard drive, to back up/copy
all our stuff so we can access it while waiting for our container to
arrive. I'm sure we'd both go a bit crazy if we went without our
music for 2 months+.

Another exciting thing to do before we go is visit family! I
desperately want to go on a drive to George/Knysna, to see my
cousins+aunt, and would love to go to Jhb and Durban to see G's family
and W+D in Pta. We have to go through our budget and see if it can be
fitted in. We also still have a number of things on our list of 'to
see/do/catch on video', so hopefully the next 4+ months won't be all
work and no play. At least I can do 1 or 2 of them with Mom/Sis, so G
won't be pressured to do everything every weekend.

EEEEEEEEEEK!! Our seats are selected already (yay Singapore Airlines,
you rock!), we'll probably have to hire a car too for when we arrive,
but would probably do that only once we're in Aus (as a resident I
believe the rates are cheaper), but EEEK YAYYYYYYYY! Min dae,
YIPPEEE!

Omg man, ONE WAY TICKETS!!

Welcome to

MY RANT!!!!!

I know that it's mean and nasty and hateful and character-muddying to
actually rant and wish harm to people on blogs and whatever, but I
SERIOUSLY WISH THIS FUCKING RECEPTIONIST WOULD DIE!!!!!!!

Seriously what the fuck is with humming and singing at fucking WORK?!?!??!

This morning I nearly went across and hit her with my phone-book,
because she spent the ENTIRE 1.5hrs after work started YACKING ON THE
GODDAMN PHONE TO HER FRIENDS!! For absolute sweet FUCK SAKE you
moron, THIS IS WORK!!! Not PHONE A FRIEND!!

Now, she's humming, singing, chanting, moaning, like african people
do. Hymnal shit. Warbly hummy mumbly shit.

SHUT UP SHUT UP FOR FUCK SAKE!!! Sweet jesus please can I die now...
or at least fall into a coma until 17:00?!?!?

JESUS!! Nothing on my ipod/computer WITH EARPHONES IN MY EARS cuts
out the fucking sound!!!!!!!! Nothing IS LOUD ENOUGH!!!!!!

FUCKING 17 MORE DAYS OF THIS. Please.... please... coma... please... please...

Chip Review Episode 3: Smiths Salt & Vinegar vs Simba Salt & Vinegar

Contestants: Smiths Salt & Vinegar (45g) and Simba Salt & Vinegar (30g)





The above photos are of the front and back of the packets. Below is a picture of the chips, Smiths Salt & Vinegar on the left, Simba Salt & Vinegar on the right.



Observations:

The main visible difference between the two are the size of crinkle-cut (corrugations). Smiths has large grooves (like corrugated iron), Simba has tiny grooves which are miniature corrugations in comparison. Simba's smaller corrugations make the chips seem thicker, which gives a more satisfying crunch when you bite into the chip. As you can also see in the picture, Simba's chips are also a bit more golden than Smiths (this effect is greatly exaggerated by the photograph though).

The flavours are very similar. The main difference is the flavour's focus: Smiths Salt & Vinegar is more salty, Simba Salt & Vinegar is more vinegar. Smiths is more 'dry' tasting (not saturated with vinegar), Simba is more tang and 'oily' with vinegar. I think the Smiths Salt & Vinegar flavour is more balanced, similar to the Simba Salt & Vinegar flavour when I was growing up, and Willards Salt & Vinegar now.

Conclusion:

Smiths Salt & Vinegar is more edible. I say this because, although the flavours aren't vastly different, you are able to eat to the bottom of the (larger) packet and still enjoy the taste, whereas Simba Salt & Vinegar, you end up screwing your face up because the sourness of the vinegar just overwhelms your tastebuds and it's actually a little 'difficult' to get through the last bit/crumbs. Oh and you also get more in the packet - GO SMITHS!! I'm sure I'll miss the tang of Simba Salt & Vinegar, but Smiths' isn't a bad substitute.

* all images/logos/copyright materials belong to their respective owners, I am merely using pictures to make my blog interesting.

It's done

It is done. I handed in my resignation yesterday.

It wasn't exactly anticlimactical, it was simply climaxless.

I phoned the typist in the morning to ask her to check in the 2
bosses' Outlook diaries to see when/if/how long they'd be available,
because I wanted to see them for a minute. Straight away she asked
'are you resigning??' so I mumbled 'maybe'. She said they're both out
until +-10:00, so I should email them to ask, and asked again if I'm
leaving (I replied 'not yet'), and she said 'every time I've just
trained someone to replace me then they leave and I have to start
again!'. Yay guilt-trip, LOL!! I emailed the bosses and then felt
anxious the entire morning.

At +-11:15 the 1 boss phoned me and said I can come up to the other
boss's office, they'll see me then. I went up. I felt so anxious.
Fumbled my words, probably didn't speak coherently at all, but
basically handed over my envelope. The 1 boss said I should hand it
to the other boss 'he's better at English', and so that boss read it.
He asked whether I had a job lined up, I said no, then they asked what
the reason is for leaving, the one said 'is it in the letter?', the
other checked, said no and so asked 'ok, may we ask, off the record?',
so I replied 'we're emigrating next year, to Australia, in January'.
They spoke a little, and the 1 mentioned my having worked here for so
long, 'practically gone through the ranks, starting as receptionist,
then secretary and PA'... then they thanked me for my contribution to
the company, and I thanked them for having me, and that was it.

I am so (bitterly is too strong a word) amused that they actually,
really believe that I 'was promoted' like that. No, guys, YOU are the
only people who have the power to promote anyone here, and YOU most
certainly did not promote me apart from to 'admin assistant', after
telling me I'd be HBBM's PA... which wasn't great but anyway. But
yah, well done on being so in-touch with staff issues.

After I came back to my desk, I dreaded having to tell HBBM the news.
It took almost all day to 'get round' to it. I was actually pretty
busy most of the day though, so it wasn't simply me wussing out.

When I did go to tell HBBM, I said 'I don't know whether (boss's name)
has said anything or talked to you about it, but we're leaving for
Australia next year.....'. So he smiles and says 'Ok, but first, I
must ask, who is this 'we'?'. Guh. What a boob. Yah, sure, me and
the boss are moving to Aus. Guh. Anyway, we had a chat about Aus,
and what it entails moving there, visa, etc, reasons to go, etc. It
was far more pleasant than talking to the bosses!

Anyway, now I'm just left with breaking the news to everyone else. I
haven't told the typist yet... will probably do that today.

This morning first thing I found a 16-box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates
on my desk. I thought it was the typist, her being the 'usual
suspect' when anyone finds any nice surprises on their desks! I
thought maybe it was because she'd found out that I was leaving, or
maybe because it was Bosses' Day and she guessed I would have
forgotten and she was 'bailing me out' or something, but I intended
asking her when I saw her what it was about. A little while later,
the 1 boss comes in from a meeting and says 'Happy Secretary's Day!
Did you enjoy your gift?'... eish, how awkward, so I stammered 'OHH, I
thought it was Moira!... I didn't realise...! Thank you!' so he said
'it's not just secretaries, it's all the ladies'... apparently all us
ladies got a box! How yum. Then an hour or so later the other boss
got in and said 'happy secretary's day, for the last time'... Eeek.

So, as of today, we have 150 days until we leave. I am feeling
pretty... odd. Not normal. Depressed? Exhausted?
Post-traumatic-stress-disorder? Dunno. I just feel blah.

D-day

Tuesday is D-day.

I am going to give the bosses my resignation letter...

I'm pretty anxious about it. After 6.5 years (will be, to the day) I'm RESIGNING. I don't know what their responses will be as I'm not quite a member of staff like one of the QSes are, I'm 'admin', office support, one of the 'background' people. As I was explaining to S (in the US), I don't really interact with the 2 directors* at all - nothing much more than "hi, good morning" each morning. The typist summed it up nicely when she said "they never tell you when you've done something right, but you will KNOW if you've done something wrong!" So, evidently I haven't been too unsatisfactory to them. Hbbm will probably be upset though (he's such a baby and needs his hand held for EVERYTHING)... but he'll just have to grab his big boy handbag and deal with it!

I won't speculate much what they will do once I've left - whether they'll get someone to replace me or give all my work to the typist - but I get the feeling they'll just make the typist do my job, as before.

I don't violently hate the place like I did a short while ago, I now just feel a constant resentment, I despise the fact that I'm still there. Everything about being there makes me so irritable and gets on my nerves badly.

Examples being:

* the receptionist has some sort of burp-disease: every 5 minutes or so (maybe even less!?), she burps. It just drives me nuts.

* the receptionist has some 'problem' where she ... I don't know if it's burps/sneezes/coughs/vomits, but she makes this sound that you'd make when laughing derisively at something someone's said. Like: "Joe bought a Lamborghini! And he's going to buy a private jet too, with a swimming pool in it!" "PFFHHHHHHHHHH (raspberry sound, but dry), sure sure, pull the other leg, it's got bells on it!". Now THAT sound is what she does, every OTHER 5 minutes. And it drives me nuts.

* the receptionist seems to think that her periods/bowel movements/digestion problems are OF INTEREST to me or are somehow relevant to my life. So, on an all too regular basis, she says, for example, "I'm going to loo, I've got a running stomach". Yay, I really need to know this, WHY?? Guhh! Do I even need to say that it drives me nuts?

* the receptionist, in every other way, is SO IRRITATING! Everything about her is just so irritating! Her high-heel shoes, the way she walks in her high-heel shoes (her feet/ankles kinda go \ \ wtf?), the way she yaks on the phone all day, the way she pronounces things, the way she gets 'he/she/her/his' mixed up, the way she says she's going to the bathroom, but then goes and makes her lunch while away from her desk (and I'm standing in for her)... etc etc etc etc etc. I'm tired of this woman now. And she's started humming/singing. Do I even need to...?

Hbbm... just by being my boss, sadly, is annoying. In a non-boss way he's harmless really, an old fuddy-duddy with quirks like the best of them. But, as a boss:

* he sits on the edge of my desk when he wants to dictate stuff at my computer, and I get the EEKS every time because I have visions of the desk breaking and me ending up with both legs broken... being rushed to hospital.

* when he dictates stuff at my desk, either he leans (see above) or he pulls up a chair to sit next to me at my computer (on either side of me) and he leans across my personal space. Don't get me wrong and think it's invading my space as in a sexual-harrassment type thing, it's just, plain old 'too close'. You know that trapezoidal shape area in front of you at the computer: your left hand has access to your mug/book/notepad/pencil/whatever, your right hand has access to the mouse/telephone. He comes and plonks himself down, and shifts things... unconsciously just pushes the phone out of *his* way so he can lean better... or he leans across between my mouse and me. Or he leans over and I feel paranoid and grossed out that he's breathing over my mug of tea. JESUSFUC....... It just DRIVES ME FUCKING BONKERS I JUST WISH I COULD STAND UP AND YELL AT HIM. Seriously, DON'T MOVE SHIT ON OTHER PEOPLE'S DESKS!!! Specially not IN THEIR PERSONAL SPACE!

* when he's dictating stuff and I'm sitting at his computer, he leans across to look at the screen to see what I've typed/what he's dictated... and he breathes. Ok it's not like, breathing all over me, but his face is maybe 1 foot away from my head and I get whiffs of tea-breath/toothpaste-breath/JUST BREATH, not stinky, but just breath... and he ums and ahs and dictates/edits... I just ... I just cannot wait until I don't have to deal with it anymore. "Um... ahh... um... no take that out... *points at screen* just put in there 'xyz blahdiblahdibla'..." fuss fuss fuss gahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

There are other things about that place which I'm tired of (such as being at a constant 4C all day, every day, regardless of season/weather/building-being-on-fire/etc), but I can at least console myself with the knowledge that in just over a month's time (I have to give a month's notice), IT WON'T MATTER ANYMORE IN THE SLIGHTEST!

On that happy note, I shall sign off this blogpost, and go sleep and dream happy dreams. Happy dreams. Happy, tickets-booked dreams!

* Hbbm is my 'boss', the 2 directors are the Bosses. I am employed by them, and I work for Hbbm.

It began in Afrika

Today we booked our one way ticket.

ONE WAY TICKET.

TICKET... going one way...

The enormity just hasn't sunk in yet.

We fly at the end of Jan. It has been booked...

Re-re-re-recalculation

I've shifted my resign date by a month. Yes, I'm the Queen of Indecision.

Round of applause please.

I've decided to finish working at the end of October. 29 October is a
Friday, which would feel better, rather than finishing work in the
middle of the week.

On the Sunday after we'd have 90 days til we leave, and on the Monday
it'd be our 2 year anniversary.

So, everything points to having ONE MASSIVE PARTY that weekend.

With that date as the T, I have T minus 67 days til I'm free. 48
working days left.

Main reason for delaying it is the fact that I actually need that
extra month's pay. Sucks. But also, resigning next week feels a bit
soon LOL!

I need to sit down this evening and make a countdown checklist, much
like the one I made for the wedding.

A momentous occasion - Athlone Towers' implosion

In the picture above, you can see the Athlone towers from the north-east (roughly). The road on the left is the N2, the national road from the airport to Cape Town city centre.

A few weeks back, I read somewhere that the Athlone cooling towers were to be demolished. Bit by bit over the weeks, it was revealed that they would be demolished by implosion, and the date was likely to be the end of July.

When we left for our Aus trip at the end of July, I sincerely hoped that it wouldn't be done in the week we were away. Luckily for us, we had 2 weeks to spare!

The date was set for 22 August 2010, at +-12:00.

A large portion of the local population had the same wish to witness this event as us, so even though we were heading out at about 10:30, we heard on the radio that the place we had been planning to go was already closed to traffic. We decided to try our luck parking in the University's lower parking area, and thankfully when we got there we found a virtually empty parking area so we parked and headed up on foot. This was +-11:00.

We walked uphill for a bit, intending to go past Rhodes Memorial and set up our picnic a bit higher up/away from everyone else. We really didn't feel like it at the time, so we made our spot on the road a few hundred metres before the Memorial. Most of the others in the vicinity were sitting on the edge of the road below us, us 3 were mostly alone on sitting on the ground above the road. It was about 11:15 that we settled in.

The weather wasn't really playing nicely, and it was very cold thanks to an gusty icy wind (the videocamera and tripod nearly blew over at one stage). The sun came and went, and at times we were drizzled on. I prepared the videocam and took a clip or 2 to make sure it was ready, then waited. At 11:50 I pressed 'record' and left it to run uninterrupted. At exactly 11:56, as everyone was idly waiting for the last few minutes to go past, I notice the towers starting to bend on the videocam LCD screen.

A lady nearby yells, "THEY'RE GOING!", and I realise that this is it, it has begun... 4 minutes early. My eyes are glued to the LCD, and the two massive towers, which a few seconds before almost filled the screen, buckle and fall towards each other, crumbling down, to be engulfed, hidden and finally replaced by a huge smoky cloud of dust...

It takes seconds, the cloud thins out and there's just emptiness where these two towers were standing. Just a gap, with the neighbouring building and chimneys remaining, untouched. It's all clear and empty, no destruction or damage, just a pile of grey is left. It's all over, the towers are no more, and I'm glad to have been there to witness it. A piece of history, and I was there. I caught it on video.

Sometimes it is a powerful feeling to say "I was there".

Chip Review Episode 2: Doritos vs Doritos

Contestants: Doritos - Australian (Cheese Supreme - 45g) and Doritos - South African (Cheese Supreme - 45g)





The above photos are of the front and back of the packets. Below is a picture of the chips, Aus Doritos on the left, SA Doritos on the right.



Observations:

At first glance, the chips are almost identical... the only noticeable difference being the barbecued appearance of the SA Doritos (blackened bits, as opposed to the grainy black bits which you find in Aus Doritos too).

The flavour is almost the same between the two, apart from the more dairy-esque taste of the Aus Doritos (like Twisties had in comparison to Niknaks), and a very slightly more tomato-ey cheese flavour, where the SA Doritos are a plainer tangy cheese flavour. The SA Doritos seem more thin and brittle than the Aus Doritos.

Conclusion:

The difference between Aus and SA Doritos is negligible. Hardly a substitute if it's virtually the same. I think when the chip-craving begins, Doritos will be Doritos, and equally satisfying!

Interesting tidbit/extra comment:

I'm fascinated as to why in SA we get smaller packets of chips: less in a 'serving' (such as Twisties/Niknaks, as well as smaller packets where the contents are the same (Doritos/Doritos)...

* all images/logos/copyright materials belong to their respective owners, I am merely using pictures to make my blog interesting.

Seeing the light....

... well, at least I've found the lightswitch!!

Watch this space!

Chip Review Episode 1: Twisties vs Niknaks

This is the first in a series of 4.

A bit of background to the experiment, first:

Just before jumping on the plane in Brisbane, I bought some packets of chips.

I brought them home unopened, and decided to do a comparison between the Aus chips I got and the SA equivalents.

TODAY'S EPISODE:

Contestants: Twisties (Cheese - 45g) and Niknaks (Original Cheese - 40g)

In Australia, they have Twisties. In SA, we have Niknaks, which apparently is the country's favourite chip. And has been for decades, too.





The above pictures are of the front and back of the packets.

The picture below is of the actual chips, Twisties on the left, Niknaks on the right.



Observations:

The first difference that is evident is the colouring used on the 2 chips. Niknaks are by far more artificial looking, colour-wise. They also smell different: Niknaks having a stronger smell, with a sweet/sour cheese-aroma. Twisties don't really have a strong smell at all, and that difference is carried through to the taste as well: Niknaks are sweeter and more 'cheesy', while Twisties' flavour is more dry and salty... there's definitely more of a milk-solids element to the flavour of Twisties.

Conclusion:

On the whole, what with having grown up with Niknaks, I would say that Twisties are not a substitute for or equal to to Niknaks. In time, however, I suppose one would become accustomed to Twisties as a replacement for Niknaks, but I would bet that regardless of how long a person has been living in Aus, they'd get a big-time craving for some good ol' Niknaks at least once in a while!

Interesting tidbit/extra comment:

The character on the packet of Niknaks is pretty old - over 25 years old. He used to be a dancing clown with painted face, but has evolved into a strange variation of a Rastafarian. Here is a picture of him from the old days:



* all images/logos/copyright materials belong to their respective owners, I am merely using pictures to make my blog interesting.

Evidence

This TV is the one we used to watch the SWC games.



Despite not having a TV licence, we used it this TV to receive broadcast television signal, but considering how terrible the picture is on this TV, AND considering that it's a black+white TV, I think we didn't really break the law...

87 more working days...

Ommmmmmmmmmmm

I'm trying to keep calm, and ignore this shit-hole. Things that
happen here, really, WILL BE OF NO CONSEQUENCE in 87 days' time!

I will be free.

I must, however, blog about it at least a TINY bit, to keep my sanity
a bit stronger.

I won't go into detail right now, as it's UTTERLY PETTY, but this
receptionist woman is SO FUCKING DISHONEST! A sneakier, more
conniving person I have NEVER EVER met, and hope never to ever meet in
future!

I wish the bosses would 'find her out' and fire her lame, sneaky ass! Bitch.

</rant>

This morning, we jumped in the car and while we reversed out of our
bay, I found a couple of loose hairs on my sleeve and so, as G was
manoeuvring the car out towards the gate, I let them go out the
window... As I was doing so, I noticed the car sounded funny, the
tyres in particular! So we pulled up near the front gate, and I
hopped out and voila, the back left-side tyre was down.

The security guard raced out to help and pretty much did the whole
thing, changing the tyre for us. I wasn't badly late for work, but
luckily for the hair on my sleeve!!

I might have mentioned in previous blogpost/s that we have shifted out
move-date forward by 2 months. What's silly is... our visa 'initial
entry by' date on the visa is February, and now that we've BEEN to Aus
to activate it (Aug), we've decided to move in Jan... thereby making
the Aug trip redundant... EXCEPT for the fact that we wanted to go
ASAP in order to activate it JUST IN CASE something happened which
prevented us from doing so later, in time before the 'initial entry
by' date.

It's all so exciting. We might be able to move out of our home by end
of Dec, because G's parents are moving to a house with a
grannyflatlet, which we could move into (G's already asked and they
said they don't mind), so EEEEEEEK!!! That'll allow us to a) spend 1
month's less rent money, b) close things more in advance of moving (we
can start already while we're still working), as we won't need our own
phone line/internet service (thereby saving a months' worth of
expenses), c) we can hopefully sell the car earlier as we could 'bum
lifts' from his parents or we could rent a cheap car in the interim.
ALSO, it means that we can get our STUFFS sent off in a container
early, so that we won't have TOO long in Aus without our stuff.

Too exciting. I'm looking forward to leaving here. I'm thrilled by
the fact that I don't need to put the 2 directors down as references
on my CV... but I'm still dreading giving notice and handing in my
resignation letter. Eugh!

87 working days til I'm free! 123 days total til I'm free! 18 weeks
til I'm free!!!!!

And 24 weeks, 166 days, until we MOVE!! Now THAT is hectic...

Recalculations...

G and I have been brainstorming, and we both think it'd be a good idea
to shift our move forward by 2 months... and leave at the end of
January.

That leaves us with 170+ days left here. The reasons for the shift are:

* safety: 2 months less living here = 2 months more freedom. 2
months free of being afraid that we'll wake up in the night with
someone holding a gun to our heads, 2 months free of a constant
awareness that ANY DAY we might get home from work to find our place
ransacked... this kind of worry plagues us DESPITE living in a
security complex with electric fence, 24hr security guard, motorised
front gate, laminated (strong) windows, security gate on the front
door, and close neighbours who don't seem to work 'standard' hours.

* money: if G and I resign to finish work at the end of December and
only move at the end of March, that leaves me not receiving any income
for 3 solid months, BEFORE even GETTING to Aus and facing a lack of
income due to jobhunting (apparently it takes a few weeks to get a
job). G was intending to use the 3 'unworking' months in SA as time
to begin with his software development, but he can be doing that while
in Aus and I'm looking for a job.

* fluid movement: we're planning on flying with Singapore Airlines,
and they have DIRECT flights in January, in February + March they all
go via Jhb. Although it's not a big issue, it'd still be nice to be
ON OUR WAY once and for all, without stopping ANYwhere apart from
transiting in Singapore. The airfare isn't more than the standard
flights, too.

* end of year wrap-up: we can close all our accounts in advance,
while we're still working in December. We might have to stay at Mom
or G's parents for a while, when our stuff has been packed, but it
would allow us to get going sooner. Also, I suspect opening accounts
there/joining things there (like medical schemes/insurance/whatever)
is better the earlier in the year we get there, as we'd only miss
January. I think we'd also be better off leaving before the end of
the tax year in SA, so that we don't have to file a 1 month tax return
the FOLLOWING year. It means we'd have to file half a tax return in
Aus but no worries there, I don't think.

Our concerns are:

* My pension/provident funds, our savings/fixed term accounts - will
they be released in time.
* Selling the car - will it be soon enough before we go that we can
transfer the money before we go.
* Missing birthdays/other occasions - not a MAJOR issue, but still,
it feels sad to think we'll be missing out on (for eg) my sis's, G's
mom's, G's uncle's birthdays, N&N's wedding, etc.
* Leaving Dude will be painful regardless of when we go, but he'd be
4 years old... we'd miss his 'hatchday' celebration date.

Hopefully by moving earlier, Mom+Sis and G's parents will be more
inclined to come over to visit us for Xmas 2011, too!

I've decided that I'm going to pack in a WHOLE STASH of SA chips and
chocolates... we'll probably only get our container a while after we
arrive in Aus, and I'm sure it'll be like a pot of gold, these tastes
of home!

We've also been reconsidering going on the river-rafting trip. G
simply won't be able to take a whole week's leave so soon after the
Austrip, and if we leave end of Jan, we'll really need the money
that'd be spent on the trip. If I don't take those 2 unpaid leave
days and 3 paid leave days, when I resign they'll have to pay me for
the 5 days' leave that I haven't taken, which would be a nice bonus
(even if only a small amount!). But the river-rafting trip just
doesn't seem like it'd fit into our timescale. If it had happened in
March past as planned it would have been ideal, but right now, it's
not great. I'll be sad to miss it, I've been looking forward to it
for ages, but... dunno... it's really a luxury. With the
river-rafting trip out of the calculation, I have 89 working days
left, which isn't a lot. Can't WAIT til I'm free!!

Ok now that I've got all those plan-thoughts out of my head, it's time
to go back to filing/playing solitaire/twiddling my thumbs. At least
I have my ipod...

Whoops!!

I pressed enter, by accident. D'oh!

Ah well, no hassle :D

This blogpost may seem like a real My News kinda thing, but ah what
the hell - it's MY blog so wahh! Hehe.

Saturday morning (31 July) we got everything ready, raced through to
G's parents to drop off Dude, then we headed through to the airport.
G drove, then at the airport we jumped out with our bags and G's dad
took the car - he was going to be using it for the week.

Had lunch at the airport, got on our domestic flight up to Jhb, met up
with Fe and his-D for supper (very yum sushi for me!). It was so fun
seeing them again - weird how time flies, we'd seen them last at the
wedding!!

Then we headed on to international and checked in. Went through
security check (we had a checked in bag, full of stuff for other-G
from his mom), then got on V Aus... it was nice, a new plane with
lekker entertainment system. The flight was nice too, but flying
overnight was a bit exhausting as it wasn't THAT late in our minds.
Got to Melbourne late in the afternoon (1 Aug), RAN AROUND like mad.
The connecting flight booking only allowed 2 options and we unwisely
chose the one with 1.5hrs in between instead of 2.5hrs.

First of all, we were delayed when the bag took ages to come through
onto the carousel*, then we were delayed badly by customs/quarantine.
We got to the check-in area, only to find about 5 different Virgin
Blue flights being checked in at the same time, so thank the lawd I
asked a ground-staff member to HELP!!!!!! And she got us to
queue-jump and got checked in 20mins before the plane was due to
depart for Brisbane.

We RACED through to the gates area, only to find ANOTHER long queue,
this time security for the same 5 or so Virgin Blue flights.
Thankfully we were allowed, once again, to queue-jump and so we raced
to the boarding gate. Only to find that our plane was delayed due to
the walkway-tube malfunctioning! We got on ok, and got into Brisbane
+- on time, late at night.

At Brisbane airport we had a short wait for our Coachtrans bus (very
handy!), then were whisked away and dropped off right outside the
hotel. We checked in, and G asked the reception-man whether he could
suggest someplace for us to eat. "The kitchen's only just closed!
Ah... Well, seeing this is Brisbane, and it's a Sunday night, not many
places would be open, but you could head into the CBD (5mins walk),
and see if you can find something...". The cook of the hotel kitchen
at that point walked past (having packed up for the night) so
reception-man called to him saying "these people want some supper..."
so he just replied "kitchen's closed, sorry", to which reception-man
amusedly turned to us and said "he didn't seem too interested in that,
did he!".

We eventually did head down into the CBD, and went to Hungry Jacks...
open 24hrs! There was a SERIOUSLY drunk man there, thankfully not
very hostile or anything, but the place was pretty busy so we bought
our (cheap) supper and went back to the hotel. I nearly died of
asphyxiation walking up the hill, and it took me about 10mins once we
got back to the hotel to actually regain myself. JEES I am so unfit!

We got to sleep pretty easily then, we didn't really sleep late though
as we'd made a hire-car booking and had banking to do. We strolled up
the road into Fortitude Valley and picked up our car - a cute little
Hyundai i30. We'd booked a lesser car, going more for cheapness than
driving pleasure, but were amused to find we'd got a 2l! Very nice.

We then drove back to the hotel, and were completely flustered when
parking when the key refused to come out of the ignition after
switching off. Only after nearly breaking the thing did we realise
that you need to... put the car into PARK first before removing the
key! And you can only put it into park if it's switched on (not
idling on-on though), and you have to put the handbrake up too.
Finicky, but I suppose safety over 'laziness'!

Then we headed down into the CBD again, to do some banking. This was
past 12, lunchtime rush starting to become evident because of the
number of pedestrians. Firstly I bought a simcard, registration for
that was painless. We then went into the bank, where it was quiet and
mostly empty. We were told to wait, and ahead of us in the queue were
3 people. We sat down, happy to wait. After about a minute a staff
member came to us and told us that they'd just asked more staff to
come in (presumably from lunch), and he reassured us that we wouldn't
have to wait long. I think we waited a total of 3mins! Incredible!

We were helped by a very nice, efficient and friendly lady, who, as
evidenced by the awards she had on her desk, is very good at her job
and is ALWAYS as friendly and helpful! She activated our account and
also opened a savings account for us, and applied for debit cards.
For the delivery of the cards we gave G's friends' address, and she
told us they'd arrive in about 4 to 5 working days.

After heading back to the hotel we arranged with other-G to go to his
place for supper. Raced out to buy a "refidex" (mapbook!), and,
jumping into our cute car, headed off that evening. It was so
painless driving across the city, and we got to his place quite
easily. His apartment is very nice, spacious and very modern and he
has a garage. Supper was very yummy too. I took a video clip of his
apartment to show his mom, I thought she'd like that seeing how she'd
made up this whole survival kit for us to take to him (the goodies for
him was the only reason we took checked-in luggage!), and specially
seeing how emotional she got when talking about him being so far away.

Tuesday we slept late, then walked up the hill to Roma Parklands. It
was a bit chilly with the wind, but lovely to wander around peacefully
in parklands and feel safe. After getting 'lost' we found our way to
Southbank, crossing over the funky bridge to get there. We lounged a
bit in the sun on the grass bank on the riverside, then walked on
further and had lunch near Streets Beach - a man-made beach (what a
strange concept!). On our way back to the hotel we went to the
internet cafe, then at the hotel had a very garlicky carbonara pasta
for supper. Much later that night G started to feel sick. We reckon
it's the hotel's food as he got sick last time we were in Brisbane,
and we were staying in the same hotel then...

The next morning he was still sick, but we attempted to head out to
catch the Mirimar boat to Lone Pine, but we didn't make it very far
and went treats shopping at Coles instead. When we got back to the
hotel, G had a nap and I lazed (ah what a life!) on the hotelroom
balcony. I bought a yum salmon+creamcheese sarmie from the coffeeshop
on the corner, and after having tea too, I dozed off briefly on the
balcony. What bliss!

That night, G mustered up all his strength and we went to our friends'
house (another G, weirdly! I'll refer to him as G/G, and his wife as
E and their daughter as little-E), to have supper with them and
other-G. Their 3 year old daughter is adorably sweet and she utterly
charmed our socks off. She's the most eloquent, well behaved 3yo kid
we've ever seen. Supper was very yum and I think it helped G to
regain a bit of strength.

Thursday we blobbed around again, G still not feeling up for a boat
trip to Lone Pine (he felt worse than the day before), so we went to
the internet cafe again and registered for a tax number. We bought
some eats too, to take with us to Lone Pine rather than buy there.
That evening we braved rush-hour to go to Westfied Garden City mall,
meeting up with other-G. We had KFC (I had a burger with bacon and
cheese... quite yum!), and just mallratted. Apparently Thursdays are
'late shopping' days in Brisbane. It's quite weird for us, being
spoilt by Canal Walk's 9am to 9pm hours daily! While we were at the
mall, G/G phoned and told us that our debit cards had already arrived!

Friday we drove through to Lone Pine and spent most of the day there.
I won't go into much detail about it, but it was lekker being there
again. I put my video camera to good use the whole time. Afterwards,
we popped in at G/G's place and picked up our cards and had tea with E
(and their daughter, little-E). All that was left for us to do was
pack, then, so we headed back to the hotel (had supper there) and then
packed, ready for our journey back. THIS time, we would have NO
checked-in luggage.

We got up at 2am Saturday morning, checked out and drove to the
airport. It took far quicker than we expected so we got there about
3:15am. Obviously no one was at the car-hire desk, so we had to
'express-return' the keys. The airport was almost empty until about
4am, when others started to arrive. After a bit we checked in (the
lady was rather icy/terse), and went to the gates. I bought some
chips which I stuffed into my bag (yay, souvenir treats!), and we
waited. The flight to Melbourne was uneventful but fine.

Once again, in Melbourne, we had an awful rush, only this time, we
weren't at fault for unwisely choosing a too-short connection, it was
the only one offered by the airline. While going through the motions
of checking in and all that jazz, we had to go through security check
again, which was different to usual. They had an MC-type guy standing
to the side giving information about restricted items and stuff you
may not take onboard, and after the long time standing in that queue,
both G and I felt quite stressed by the adrenalin and hype. It was
like being in a Hyperama on Jolly Trolley or Hypermania days...
exhausting and noisy!

We got onto our plane alright, but were over an hour delayed as the
plane had to refuel. I was particularly anxious about that because
our flight from Jhb to CT was only 1hr 15mins after the Melbourne-Jhb
plane was due to land, AND it was the LAST flight of that airline for
the night. Plus, if we missed it, it'd be such a waste of money. But
no worries, the pilots made up such good time that we were only about
5 mins later than expected in Jhb. It was a long and uneventful
journey, the biggest bonus being that G and I got to sit in a 2-seater
row, with no one but a flight-attendant sitting behind us during take
off and landing (and he was even facing the other way!). Lovely. And
the loo was right there too - super-convenient.

We RACED, again, to get to our next plane in Jhb. We got a bit
disoriented though, as we couldn't figure out where domestic
departures was, but we found it eventually and checked in hurriedly.
The lady there asked us why we'd just ran, to which G answered
'because gates close 40mins prior to departure, and it's now 38mins
prior to departure...'. Duh. We checked in ok though, raced to the
gate, and thankfully weren't the last people to get there: there was a
whole busful of us who eventually headed to the plane.

OH MY GODDD what a cramped dreadful flight! G and I were seated
separately on different rows, on opposite sides of the plane (at least
nearish) - I guess because of how late we'd checked in. Both of us
were in the middle seat, and neither of us had access at all to any
arm-rests. G was seated next to 2 interesting guys, I on the other
hand was seated next to a quiet, polite Muslim man and a white guy
with a FLIPPIN' LOUD Iphone/pad/tampon. And he kept nudging me in my
ribs as he turned magazine pages, but at that stage of the 'day', I
was beyond caring. I was trying my damndest to stay seated and not
run yelling to the toilet! I simply folded my arms, jabbed my elbows
into my handbag on my lap and tried to zone out. I think it worked as
I think I nodded off occasionally.

It was either that or watch the 'air-TV' which was showing, which was
HORRENDOUS! A business news-clip about the Gautrain and whether it'll
be ready for the 'football fans next year', HELLOO, SWC has passed?
And an interview with some golfer's wife. Both of the clips were
subtitled, but DREADFULLY: in a transcript, you don't PUT in where
the person ums and ahs, FFS! And you most certainly check your
spelling/grammar/word usage. Anyway, it was excrutiating but I
survived.

We arrived in CT early (yay!) and, wonderfully, CT didn't disappoint:
3 out of the 7 basin-taps didn't work in the ladies' bathroom.
WELCOME TO CAPE TOWN EVERYBODY!! Come to think of it, Jhb airport
wasn't much better (it smelled a bit grim).

G's dad was godsently there, waiting for us and G drove us to his
parents' place, to drop his Dad off before coming home. We weren't
sure whether we'd take Dude with us or not (if he was sleeping it
seemed a bit pointless waking him etc), but after a while of us 4
chatting he really perked up and started talking too. So he came home
with us.

All in all, a WONDERFUL trip. I wished and still wish that we were
able to STAY rather than have to come back... I just love it there.
So, maybe our ETA will change? Watch this space!!

* the story with my bag. Ah, ha. When I grabbed my bag off the
carousel in Melbourne, I instantly noticed that something was wonky
with the zip. I'd padlocked it, but it was 'off'. So we dragged the
bag to one side to inspect the contents, only to find that some UTTER
WORTHLESS SLUG ACSA/ORTIA employee had damaged my zip to steal: 3 x
peppermint crisps. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, 3 CHOCOLATE BARS. And
not only did they do that, they left one of the wrappers behind, AND
to add insult to injury, they RIPPED the ziploc I'd put them and some
jellytots packets in. Jellytots packaging being notorious for leaking
sugar (hence my ziploc'ing them in the first place!), my entire bag
was now covered in sugar. Lovely. What a bunch of fucktards.

Holiday stuffs!!