The diary ceases to exist from now. I am sick of spending my time sharing my life (or lack of it) with others who do not take the time to comment or provide any feedback.
On Saturday afternoon, I had the sudden urge to purchase a Queensland road rules guide book from the newsagent. That evening, I spent one, maybe two hours reading through a bit of it. On Monday, I was intent on sitting for the theory test, to see if - out of curiousity - I would get my learners licence. On Monday afternoon, as a 28 year old, on my first attempt, I passed. To say that I was stunned, is very much an understatement.
I was told to allow up to 45 minutes to do the test, but managed to do it in around 15 minutes. The first part of the test was 10 questions, which were all diagrams of various "give way" situations. After reading through the book, I thought that it was all very self explanatory who would give way in each situation described, but figured that it could not possibly be that easy. I got all 10 questions right.
Next were 20 questions all about various road rule related things. I completed them all, but had a few problems with some, and figured that if I had not already failed the first 10 questions, this was going to be what screwed me up totally. I watched as the lady marked the test for me, with a little thing that she held the answers over the form. My eyes were wandering quicker than she was marking, and I could see that the majority of them were right. I ended up getting 18 of the 20 questions right, hence the pass. Unbelievable stuff.
Next, I got my photo taken. I advised the lady taking my photo to make sure I looked "hot". I figured though that my photo would probably end up as "hot" as everyone elses licence photos, ie not so hot...but...wow...she handed my photo back, and it was great! I walked out of the Department of Transport, clutching my new beautiful piece of plastic, ecstatic, with the full knowledge that I now was able to learn how to drive a car - a potentially lethal weapon. Yikes.
Now...it wasn't really that easy. I had originally walked all the way out to the Department of Transport earlier in the day. Unfortunately, I did not have the appropriate ID to actually apply for my learners. The problem? I had a New South Wales 18+ card as part of my ID, and they wanted a Queensland 18+ card. The other alternative was a passport - which I usually do have on hand for situations like this...but...unfortunately I currently do not have a valid passport. I did have a passport that expired at the end of this month, but I had renewed it about 2 weeks ago. When I paid the fee, the lady behind the counter at the post office hacked away a few bits of my old passport without warning. I guessed that they needed to destroy old documents...but woah...I wish she would have told me first!
Anyways...back to the Department of Transport and my ID fiasco. None of the other stuff I had to prove my ID would cut it, and the lady behind the counter treated me dismissively, and I simply left without getting into an argument about it. Well...I did ask if I could do the test only, and bring the ID later, but she said no. I was so floored, I stood outside the doors going oh shit, crap. shit shit. arrr. Well...I wasn't saying anything, it was all going on in my head how frustrating this latest development was.
An elderly gentleman in a wheelchair approached me, and asked me if I was okay...yes, I was until you asked, I thought, and started to have a cry over this...and I guess every shithouse thing that has happened to me recently. He said that he would probably be about 20 minutes, but if I was still here when he came out, he would be happy to drive me home and then back to the Department of Transport. I said thanks, but I think I might go. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I just wanted to move, as I didn't want to create too much more of scene. Gawd, people walking past probably thought that I had just failed my drivers test or something, considering how upset I was!
When he left, I ended up starting to walk home. Next thing, I get hit over the head with something. I look up and its a magpie. Of course, this topped my awesome morning off. I quickly wandered across the road, and as luck would have it, there was a cab coming my way. I signalled the driver, who was kind enough to stop, and I went home. I then went back to the Department of Transport and the above happy events then began, cumulating with the happiness of walking out of there with my Learners Licence.
Where to next...lets look at Tuesday last week. I've now been out of work for around a month. I haven't got any of the jobs that I have applied for. The phone rings. I am offered a job. This is the job that I wrote about in my last post. Unfortunately, when I quizzed the manager about the hours during the interview, I wasn't given anything definate with regards to the amount that I could expect. She basically said that the hours I got would be based on my performance - and no, it wasn't the stripper job kekeke. I promise. I'm not that desparate...yet. Even when I gave the scenario of "What if I did really well, how many hours could I look forward to?", she couldn't give me any idea.
But...yeah...I got the job, and I was happy. I was asked to work two days later in the week - on Thursday for 8 hours, and then on Friday for 5 hours. Then...two hours later, on the same day, the phone rang again. It was the person looking after the fruit picking jobs. They said I had the job. The problem? It starts on the 10th of October. I wasn't sure what to do, but in the end I decided that the fruit picking was at least guaranteed hours. I was tempted to just do the original job that I had been offered, without telling them that I was leaving on the 10th of October, but it didn't feel right. I could do something like that to a multi national conglamoration (eg Coles/Big W), but not to this place which is a small family business. Sooo...I made my call to the employer, and was then without a job, which made me sad, but I thought that I had done the right thing.
In the end though, I ended up getting really sick the next day, and was sick right through to the weekend. I had absolutely everything that I could possibly have wrong with me for a couple of days - sore, watery eyes, headache, cough, and I could not stop sneezing. Given that I was like this on Thursday and Friday - which would have been my first days at work, perhaps I did do the right thing. Calling in sick on ones first day, isn't a great idea, but turning up to work looking as I did would not have been good either.
I have been hearing a lot about the new Charlie and The Chocolate Factory movie. So much so, that I was curious enough to see it on the weekend. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed. I did approach it with caution, given that I love the original movie so much, but heard quite a few really good reviews, so figured it wasn't going to be too bad. I was wrong...well...it was an okay movie, but it just does not compare to the original.
I woke up at 630am - a bit earlier than my alarm was set for, but decided to stay awake. I called about the grape picking job at 8am, and it still sounds good. They pay piece rates or a base wage - whatever is higher. This gives the opportunity to make A LOT of money. Essentially, it is the same deal as tomatoes - but - you get paid a minimum set rate per hour. Accomodation is $70 a week if one wants to be alone, or $35 if I was to share with someone. Unreal - I hope that I get this job!
This morning, I also called the Great Western Hotel, where Rodney Rude is going to be on the 3rd of September. I asked how much tickets were, and was told "$39.50". Err.. I don't think I will be going any more. I thought tickets would be $30 tops - and that was still really stretching it.
I spent the remainder of the day in the sun delivering around 800 of my postcards. I now have 800 left - that's a total of 4200 postcards delivered by me alone now, with one response...what a supreme waste of time, effort and money. Oh well, yet another learning experience for me. I think I got a little too much sun, and struggled so much walking home that I gave up and got a cab home. I am going out tomorrow again, to hopefully get rid of some more. If all goes well, they will all be gone by the end of this week.
While I was delivering, I got a phonecall from someone who was calling about a job that I had applied for. They want me to come in for an interview tomorrow, so will be interesting to see if I get the job. As far as I know, it is only a casual job, but will be good to have a bit more money coming in, while I wait to hear about the grape picking job.
Today was yet another pointless day, where I did nothing of much interest. However, tonight I did find a job which I am going to call up about tomorrow. Its to do with grape picking, and the good news is that this one is HOPEFULLY not dodgy!!!
Apparently it is a 12 month contract (or minimum 3 month contract) with a large grape company. The job starts off with 3 months work in Emerald, then you move to other locations around Australia (Victoria, and South Australia) to continue picking. The ad says that good subsidised accomodation would be provided, as well as free transport to working locations in Australia. They provide all the equipment you need too - all of which sounds great. It starts on the 10th of October.
Tomorrow I am setting my alarm clock for early. My intention is to stay out of the house for the entire day - hopefully delivering the remainder of my postcards and - hopefully - getting this job!
I had planned to spend the day outside of my room, but it did not happen today. I went for a quick walk / run to the post office and back, and spent the rest of the day playing online Scrabble. Yes, I am addicted. I think. Nothing more to write. Sorry!
I have decided to stay in Rockhampton for another couple of weeks, in the hope that I will get a job here. If I do not get a job, I will then probably travel somewhere else - who knows where though!
After applying for another job today, I kept myself distracted doing pointless things on the internet for the majority of the day. I had a few too many games of online Scrabble, and also found this stupid - but addictive game where you help Harold from Neighbours feed his hungry customers. Yes, I was bored.
I went for a wander in the afternoon to purchase my ticket to see Wil Anderson, and to get a few things from the supermarket. I wandered past the magazine stand, and nearly fell over when I saw the cover of TV Week - which, admittedly never really excites me in any way...but, today it did. Anyhoos...it had Dicko (ex Australian Idol judge, and My Restuarant Rules host) on the cover, and it said that he was going to be dancing in the next series of Channel 7's Dancing With The Stars! I can't wait to see that! kekeke.
Oh..and the mag also had a poster of Kyle Sandilands in it, so that of course sealed the deal. I still remember him from his radio days in Mackay, where he was "Captain Kyle". I am so impressed with how far his career has stretched since then. *runs off to put Kyle poster on wall*.
All this led me to purchase TV Week for the first time in a very long while. I then went home and read it, as there was not too much else to do. Right at the end of the magazine, there was a small paragraph that said that next year was the 10th anniversary of Good News Week and that Channel 10 may be planning a reunion. That would be interesting - if it is true that is.
Next on my entertainment roster this evening was to watch the Australian Idol results show. Given that the majority of performances last night were shithouse, the end result seemed fairly obvious. The three people who sung okay would get through, the seven that were crap would be going home. The strongest performer was, without a doubt, Roxanne. The weakest was Laura, who totally screwed up a song so much, that she could not possibly be going through. Right?
Wrong! Who went through to the final 12? Laura. As a consequence of this, Roxanne missed out. I could not believe it. By the looks on the other contestants, and judges faces, they could not believe it either. Again, I am whining about a show that I do not spend my money to vote contestants into...but yikes...unbelieveable stuff.
For me, yesterday was soooo incredibly boring, that it didn't really warrant a diary entry...although I probably should have writen one anyway. I woke up, cooked some food, went to sleep, woke up, went to sleep again, thought a bit too much, and then went back to sleep. Today has followed much the same formula as well.
I have a few too many job related thoughts going through my head. There's vine pruning jobs in Emerald, which will also apparently lead into grape picking. I am still tempted to go out there. I also was thinking of perhaps going to Sydney for a little while to do some temp work, as I didn't seem to have too many problems getting work when I was down there...or...I can stay in Rockhampton, on the dole until I find a job.
I'm not sure what is best to do, but will keep thinking, and will ring the people looking after the job in Emerald tomorrow, to see if it sounds like it is worthwhile going out there. There were also some other jobs in the paper in Rockhampton, so I will start hassling people about them as well. Hopefully, I will not be unemployed for much longer, as it is dangerous having this much time to think.
I had another job interview yesterday, which involved another 2 hours of tests and filling out copious amounts of paper. At the completion of my 2 hours at the job agency, I was told that the results that I recieved from all the tests were outstanding. I was also told that they had just given the job that I had applied for away to someone else. Thanks so much for that.
As I was wandering home, I walked past Rocky's strip joint, and saw a sign up on the window which caught my attention. It said that they needed dancers, that no experience was required, and that a dancer could make up to $2000 a week! It also said that full training would be provided. I decided to pass up on the job opportunity though, as I didn't want to scare anyone! I hope that Centrelink won't mind! A few years ago, I remember hearing a story on a current affairs show about them referring someone to work...in a brothel! The person from memory was less than impressed. heh heh.
I've been sporadically delivering the remainder of my postcards which advertise my webdesign business. Regular readers would know that I got 5000 of these fuckers printed out, delivered a few thousand of them, and got only one job out of it - which I am still waiting to be paid for! I then went away to Western Australia for a couple of months, and the remaining postcards were here to greet me when I got back. I have around 1600 left to deliver now, and still haven't heard from anyone wanting a website! Arrr.
I was delivering some postcards yesterday afternoon, and was stopped by a house cleaner who asked if I was delivering these for myself or for someone elses business. I said that they were for me. He asked if I was interested in delivering some brochures for him. I said yes...well...no...not really, but something to do I guess. It will be interesting to see if I can get any work out of it.
A few weeks from now, two comedians are visiting Rockhampton within a few days of each other. Wil Anderson will be here on the 7th of September, and Rodney Rude will be here on the 3rd of September. I have never heard anything that Rodney Rude has done, but I am curious enough to go along and check him out, because he seems to have been around forever. As for Wil...I have seen his stand-up shows a few times, and am a fan of The Glassshouse, and his writing etc etc etc. I have so much admiration for him and his work, and am ecstatic that he is coming to Rockhampton!
Thanks to the nice people who have been leaving comments :) Firstly, David has asked about my cooking, and if I can post some recipes. None of the stuff I am cooking is particularly er...sophisticated, so I am not sure if you really want to know how I make a steak burger and so forth...lol...but if you still want me to post some recipes, let me know! Holding - I am happy to answer your question if you send me an email. Just click on the "epod" link at the end of this post.
Here is the much anticipated update! The archives of the diary are back, and I have also changed the format of my diary page - let me know what you think in the comments section at the end of this post!
At 9pm after I finished work on the 21st of July, my bosses stated that they needed to talk to me...so they did. They told me that they have been reading my diary, and consequently, they were rather pissed. They asked me to delete it. I said no. I was then informed that they were going to take legal action. I said...whatever! Next, I was told that I was to pack up all my stuff and meet them at 745am the next day to get driven and dumped in the nearest town! Soooooo...yeah. I was deported! Oh yeah!
It wasn't a huge surprise that they were reading my diary, as I had suspected that they were already doing so, because of some off hand comments that were made by them in the previous week or so. That was when I added into one of my posts that I liked the managers - lie - to see if I would get any reaction. No reaction was forthcoming at that point though. A few people have asked how the managers could be reading the diary in the first place. Well...it is online for all to see, so essentially anyone can read it. Furthermore, they had the address of my website because I was going to make a website for their business....ha...not that that is going to happen now! Oh well...blaaaah!
The bloke manager asked me what they had ever done to me?
"Did you not read my diary?", I said. Given, I haven't put absolutely every single thing that has pissed me off in my diary, but it should have given him a pretty good idea! I told him that I didn't have a problem with him, and that my problem was with his girlfriend (the other manager), and the cook. This manager is one of those extremely weak people one meets from time to time, who puts up with his partners shit, seemingly with no complaints. Hearing the way she frequently talks down to him, and how he just takes it is pathetic. They do however deserve each other.
They think that the problem with them not being able to keep staff is due to the inadequate staff that have been employed there, not with them. Really? So that is why multiple people usually last a week at their place of employment and usually leave, giving no notice? Sure, its the employees problem. Pfft. Oh, and the locals also are of course all wrong about the managers - they are both great people who offer exceptional, friendly service...pfft. *insert sarcasm here*.
Anyhoos...back to the alleged legal action. I know a bit about defamation, which I guess they were getting at in regards to their threats to sue me. As far as I understand from what I learnt in regards to defamation, the only way you can defame someone is if they have a good reputation, and you say something to damage it. These people have a really bad rep in town, so I could hardly damage it. Plenty of people in town could back me up with that. Furthermore, it is hardly defamation if what I am writing about is true. There were not any names mentioned either.
Despite not mentioning names in my posts, I decided that the information in the diary mentioning the name of the town, and nearby towns I was in should be removed, to further add to the anonomity of the posts documenting my experiences. My intention has never been to upset anyone by writing this diary, but I refuse point blank to be censored to the point of removing posts in their entirity, particularly when there are not really any legitimate grounds to do so.
Because of the above, and also because I wanted to ensure that I got my last pay, I removed the entire diary temporarily, with no reason provided regarding its removal. I really was worried that they were not going to pay me, as they have previously not paid people who have done runners and so forth. I wrote about that previously in my diary - all this was discussed on the car trip with the manager on the first day! So...despite the fact I did not do a runner, I still did not want to risk not getting paid if I could help it.
The pricks charged me $150 for my last phone bill, which was an absolute crock of bullshit. There is NO way I made $150 worth of calls. $100, perhaps, but definately NOT $150! As previously mentioned, the phone system which records all calls made went down just prior to the manager leaving me here alone to manage the place with the cook for four days. I was told that there was no way of getting records for any calls made during that time. Considering I was working 15 hour days, there was not a chance I made many phone calls (other than a few to the internet, which are local calls) during that time frame. Given that I just wanted to get out of there though, I paid it though. I figured that it would have cost me $30 for a bus trip to the nearest town anyway, so they have only ripped me off a little.
The night they told me to pack my stuff, they were kind enough to disconnect the phone from my room as well, leaving me no chance to get anything organised for the next day, as far as accomodation and so forth in the nearest town. Pricks. The next day I was walking back from my room and the cook comes up to me and says, "I hope you are going back to Rockhampton, cause I will have people waiting for you there. I am going to sue your ass." I told him to fuck off. Yes, I am a nice person. Really.
The funniest thing about all this is that after weeks and weeks of bitching about the cook, they all essentially ganged up on me in regards to the diary thing. It is so interesting to see how two faced people can be. The cook constantly bitches about the managers. Also...both managers have told me on multiple occasions - essentially every day - that they hate the cook and that they are going to get rid of him. In fact, around three days prior, the female manager had called me into the office (again - this is what she always did when she wanted to bitch about the cook), and said that the owner was already trying to get someone to take his job.
The owner had found a couple to take over his job, but they had a little dog that they were not sure what to do with, so the owner was looking into what could be done. Cook it on the barbie perhaps? I don't know. I am truly curious if they ended up firing the cook as promised though. That would have been an interesting sight to see.
Anyhoos...I ended up staying in a nice hotel in the nearest town for a few days. It wasn't really worth the money that I paid, but I just needed a bit of time to regroup after my experiences of the last month or so. I offered to pay for the accomodation when I first arrived, but they said not to worry because I could pay when I left. No problems. They then took my credit card to pre-authorise it or something. I wasn't sure, but went ah...whatever.
Later, when I tried to check out, and pay by credit card, it was declined - even though I had the money in the card to pay for it! Turns out when they pre-authorise payments, they make it so that the money can't be spent in the meantime. They told me that the pre-authorisations sometimes take up to 3 days to be removed! What a stupid system! I could have just paid for the accomodation straight up. Luckily, I had money in my savings account to pay, but yeah it was embarrassing, stressful and unecessary process to go through.
The service there was pretty crap also. I went to book in for an extra couple of nights at one point. The receptionist asked if I minded if she served the one person waiting in line as they were just checking out. I said, "sure, no problems". People then continually kept walking in for approximately 5 minutes, who she served before me - even though I was first. After being ignored for long enough, I then went up to her and said that I was not spending hundreds of dollars at this hotel to be left waiting while other people were served before me. She apologied and said that she got a little carried away doing the "easy" check out ones. Whatever.
On another occasion, I had gone for a long walk around town. I was shocked when I got back and saw the room of my door open and a room attendant with her back to my door around 10 metres away. Considering I locked the room before I left, and had all my stuff - including my laptop in my room, I was rather pissed. I suggested to the room attendant that if she was cleaning a guests room which had stuff in it, it really was a good idea if she was to lock the door - just as it was left - if she was going to walk away somewhere. She agreed.
It wasn't all bad though! They have free movies running on the tvs in each room from early in the morning to late at night. I managed to watch a heap of movies, and also got room service for the first time in my life ever, which was great - but expensive! I ended up staying for 4 days before I went back to Rockhampton.
The day after I got back to Rockhampton, I had the second part of my interview for the job I have talked about in previous posts. It involved me going into the job agency, and doing some tests on their computer. First was a test on the computer about call centres, which I breezed through, then there was a typing test. After I finished the tests, I was told that I did exceptionally well in both. I was particularly happy with my typing test where I got 79 words a minute, with one mistake. Ah, I am good.
A few days later, I got a phone call from the agency, who told me that I was through to the next stage, which was an interview with the actual employer. I was told that they would call me back about a week later and give me the date and time of the interview. Around a week later, my phone rang, and it was the agency. They told me that the employer did not choose to interview me. This was a bit of a shock, but there was not a lot I could do about it.
I went home and went searching on the jobs.gov.au website, which I have been doing pretty much every day since I finished my last job. I have still been looking at fruit picking and so forth, and saw an ad for tomato/egg plant pickers in Proserpine. Accomodation was $120 a week, and transport to and from work was included in that price. It said, "Immediate start". Given that I called on the day that the ad was placed, I figured that I would be in with a pretty good chance of getting work.
I called up the number, which was a backpackers hostel in Proserpine. They said that although they can not guarantee work, that if I arrived the next day (Thursday 11th, August), that I should be able to get work on Friday. When I arrived on Thursday, I paid my $120, and then went exploring around town, and then back to the backpackers. I spoke to a girl who was doing tomato picking, who had been fired after 3 days - apparently she was too slow. She said that it was a really shit job. She then told me about how the wages are worked out.
Each bin that gets filled is worth $85. This, I knew as it was in the ad that I responded to. When I talked to the person on the phone, they said that my hours would be from around 6am in the morning, through to around 3pm in the afternoon. They said that most people could fill one or two bins a day. That, I figured wasn't too bad, and it would pay my rent at the backpackers, as well as give me extra money on top of that. The girl told me that what one earns is dependant on what your group picks, not what you pick as an individual. She told me that her group had 15 people in it and she made $70 or $80 and that it was around a 12 hour day. She also mentioned that people have been told that there is work, when in fact there is not.
As it turned out, I ended up speaking to quite a few people who were able to confirm that they too were told that there was work, but there was none. I figured that it was a pretty good scam for the owners of the backpackers to run, to get people into their hostel and get their $120 worth of accomodation. I was understandably disappointed when I did not get asked to work on Friday, or Saturday. Saturday morning, the owner was knocking on peoples doors asking them to work. He had not yet knocked on my door, but I heard him say, "Hmm. Nobody wants to work". When I immediately opened the door and said that I would work, he said that he had just got the people he needed. Later in the day, I found out that the extra people he sent travelled out to the farm, and then were told that they were not needed. That is a two hour round trip, and they made no money!
I finally got to work on Sunday. I got up and jumped on the freezing cold bus at 530am, got to the farm at around 630am, then waited around with the group freezing away. A few people showed me the injuries on their hands. They said it was from not wearing gloves the day before. I did ask when I first called about the job if there was any equipment I needed, but they neglected to mention that gloves would be a good idea. Arrrr.
I finally got to start work, and what it involves is walking down really really long rows of tomato plants, brushing the leaves away looking for tomatoes that are ready to be picked. The majority of the tomatoes were green, which were ones that did not need to be picked. The ones that needed picking were those with some "colour" in them - any colour except for green though. I had to walk down the really muddy aisles between the rows of tomatoes, with a big bucket, which was where any tomatoes that I picked went. When someone has a full bucket, they yell out, "Bucket" (although, as the day progressed, it sounded more like, "Fuck it!").
Each bucket of tomatoes got passed from row to row, until each bucket ended up outside of the rows of tomatoes where a truck was parked. The truck had the empty bins in it that needed to be filled. Then, once all the tomatoes were emptied into that, the empty buckets needed to be passed back along the rows to each of the workers. Everytime someone yelled, "Bucket", I cringed as we were all in different areas of the rows. Ideallly, if we were in a straight line, there would be no walking backwards or forwards to the row of people passing the buckets...but yes...we were all over the place. Walking with a bucket, even just a few metres was rather irritating and a little painful. Lifting the heavy buckets between the rows expended even more energy.
I did bring a bottle of water, but it was not enough. I asked the bloke who was driving the truck if he knew where I could go to get my water bottle filled up. He pointed inside all my fellow employees bags and said, "Just take some water out of their bags". I was like..."Um...I will be right thanks." I then went and asked if anyone could spare some water. There wasn't a lot to spare, but it was better than nothing.
About 12 hours after I started my day, I was back at the backpackers, with the knowledge that I had made around $80 for the days work. Also, my hands were totally black due to not wearing any gloves. I smelt of tomatoes, had mud all over my shoes and clothes, and could not scrub all the dirt out of my hands and nails no matter how hard I tried. I now have some small scratches on my hands, filled with dirt that I have no idea how to get rid of. At the advice of a chemist, I put dettol on them...but yeah...it didn't help a lot!
I spent the day thinking that maybe tonight was the night that I should leave and go back to Rockhampton. Although I did not really want to work again for wages like that (around $6 an hour it works out to be!), I would definitely do picking again, if the money was right. Some farms do pay for the work you do, rather than that of the team, and I think that that is really the way to go, as you can make quite a lot of money.
I now know why farms can pay so little though for this sort of work. Backpackers from overseas are only allowed to work here in a normal job for three months. The only way that they can get their visas extended so that they can stay for a year is by doing fruit picking! Sooo...given the amount of backpackers who want to stay for more than three months, and the fact that this is the only way they can earn money, it is understandable that companies would know this, and consequently pay pitiful wages. They know that once one backpacker is gone - even if they only work for a day, soon enough there will be another one the next day, ready to work and be exploited again!
I decided that it was not worth staying on for the rest of the time I had paid for, so I went to ask if I could get refunded for the nights that I had not stayed if I left early. They said that yes, I could get a refund - but - the nights I had already stayed would be charged as single nights, which are $25 each. I ended up getting $20 back, and then leaving on the 840pm bus to Rockhampton. I arrived home at 230am on Monday, 15th August, happy about my latest adventure and wondering what my next adventure would be.
Other stuff I have been doing lately...cooking! I am finally inspired to try to get my shit together in the kitchen. When I first got back from Western Austrlalia, I bought a grill/sandwich press. I have been making yummy burgers, potato thingies, and just generally cooking much fabulous stuff on it. It is great and I wish I had got one sooner.
I spent yesterday working out all the paperwork for my tax, and am off to the tax agent this afternoon at 4pm to hear the good or bad news in regards to how much money I will or will not get back. I made bugger all last financial year, so hopefully I will get heaps back...who really knows though! *crosses fingers*
I was stunned to watch the Big Brother finale and see the Logan twins win. Errrk. Ick. Arrr. Admittedly, I have been harbouring a bit of a crush on the kind, clever, considerate, compassionate Tim, almost since day one, and was hoping that he would win. Given that I never vote for these sorts of competitions though, I shouldn't really complain about the result!
Today, I added a comments thingie so people can now add comments to each post I make, including this one. It's provided free by the good folks at Haloscan.com. The diary will be back soon - in full, within the next couple of days. The daily updates will be happening again - as well as a movie length explanation regarding the temporary disappearance of the diary, and what I have been up to for the past couple of weeks. For now, the links to my diary archives will not work, so don't bother clicking them...but they will be back up very soon. Feel free to speculate in the comments section on what has been going on in my little world in the meantime!