I slept in for the first time in months today. Today was pretty much a write off, with me not being particularly happy as a result of not really doing anything and having way too much time to think. I went for a walk this afternoon, just so that I could get out of the house. I got home, and then decided it was time to do some work on my website. I tidied up the archive links on my diary page, as well as slightly altered the front page of the site, I also added some more pictures to my funny pictures page.
I am happy that I managed to complete a diary entry for every day last
month, and am going to try to continue with the daily entries for as long as my patience and dedication holds up. I have chosen to set myself a new challenge - to design my own flyer to advertise my website design before tomorrow. Then, I can print it out on Tuesday this week and start delivering them. On the other hand, I do not know if I will be able to keep to that guideline, as I had (yet another) stupid idea whilst I was walking today.
I am going to see Henry Rollins in Brisbane on the 25th of May. I thought hmm. Why don't I go to Brisbane this month, visit the people that I wanted to visit a few months back - and stay for say a month or so doing temp work, to keep myself financially stable. My aim would be to find cheap accomodation in Brisbane. I would continue to pay rent here so that I would have a real home to come home to. It may sound crazy, but sounds to me more viable
and inspiring than going to apply for the dole on Tuesday when Centrelink reopens after the public holiday. Stay tuned to see if it happens!
Today sucked in a big way. Slept in. Woke up. Wasted too many hours on the internet. Went for a walk. Did some washing. Wasted some more time on the internet. Listed some more eBay auctions. I need to get out of here for a while - asap before I go nuts.
I nearly bought a plane ticket last night to go to Brisbane. I stopped myself though, and bought a ticket to see Grinspoon instead. They are coming to Rockhampton on the 11th of May. I love Grinspoon and can't wait. I find it amusing that I have already gone out more in Rockhampton than what I did in the seven years I was in Sydney.
The decision has
been made. If I do not get a call from work to come in tomorrow, I will go ahead and book my ticket. I figured that if I booked my ticket today, work wouldprobably call me tomorrow morning offering me another months work - just to mess with my head! I will leave on the 4th or 5th of May. I will spend my time there catching up with friends that I have not seen for around 10 years. My time will also be spent attempting to source some cheap accomodation, and also going into agencies to get interviewed/do typing tests and so forth, so that they can hopefully find me some work.
So...basically I have a plan. I will go to Brisbane for a few days, then come back in time to see Grinspoon and get some eBay stuff sorted out. Then, around the 12th of May, I will go back to Brisbane again. At that stage, I will hopefully have accomodation and work lined up...or...if work calls me tomorrow, I stay
in Rockhampton. Too easy.
I have recently began purchasing on eBay again, to slowly begin to replace the cd collection I sold prior to leaving Sydney last year. I have paid every single seller except for one. This seller does not answer my emails, and has sent me a few emails, written in a tone that I do not appreciate. They are claiming that I am not responding to any of their emails. That is of course crap. I have replied to them, they have not replied to me - ie their email address is invalid. I have reported them to eBay already for having an invalid email address. Today I recieved yet another pleasant email from them:
You have 24 hours to reply to my many emails about how in which you are going to pay for this item. If i do not hear from you in the next 24 hours i will be reporting you as an unpaying customer to officials at Ebay. From here they will take care of the matter
and you will be deported from the Ebay site entirely.
Even if I had not replied, this auction only finished on the 29th of April, so they are being a little extreme. Their threats of course will amount to nothing. There's no chance that I will be "deported" by eBay. Pfft. Furthermore, due to the abraisiveness of this persons emails, there is no chance they are getting any money from me. I may get a negative, but I don't think I care any more.
I bought my ticket to Brisbane today. I leave tomorrow morning at 730am. Not sure what I am doing or when I will get back, needless to say it will in the very least be somewhat of an adventure for me. I'm only taking a backpack with me. I believe in travelling light. I was tempted to purchase a laptop today, but resisted temptation. I intend to attempt
to keep up with the daily diary updates via visits to internet cafes.
I went for a big walk today at around 930am. I called a friend to see if they wanted to have lunch with me, but got their answering machine. I figured that she was at work. As soon as I hung up from the answering machine, I got a notification on my phone that I had one missed call from a work number. This convieniently came through just as I was walking past work. I was going to call and say hey, so do you want me to work, but kept walking. I figured that if it was really important, they would call back, or they would have left a message. It may not have even been someone from work calling me in, it could have just been a friend using the free phones they have for outgoing phonecalls at work. Oh well. Time to move on...
I renewed my lease for another three months today, as I figured that although my lease was due
to finish on the 20th of May, that it would be a good idea to have this place to come back to. Hopefully someone doesn't burn it down in the meantime.
I haven't recieved any callbacks from the agencies in Brisbane I applied for jobs with, so I am a little disappointed. Yes, I know what to expect from agencies, but arrr...it is soooo frustrating. Even the seek website has hardly no jobs for temps in Brisbane. Oh well, if all else fails I can go home I guess.
I woke up at around 4am today to the sounds of someone being sick. My neighbour, who was sick last week, is sick again with the same thing. She has also kindly passed her illness onto another housemate, but thankfully not to me (yet!). Apparently, it is something that is contagious?! When I get back home, the first thing I am going to
purchase is a bucket, in eager anticipation of what might come next.
I got a cab to the airport and was there early enough to be bored out of my mind. There was a tv there, but it had Aerobics Oz Style on it. I was thinking of switching it over to Sunrise, but didn't know if this would result in me getting crash tackled by some burly security guards who were just as bored as me. The flight was okay, nothing exciting to report other than I had ham and cheese sandwiches and a bottle of water - neither of which were incredibly exciting so why mention them - right!?
I was the first one off the plane and as I was walking into the terminal, the air hostess was walking beside me. She asked what I had planned. Ha. I told her I did not know. I said that I may be working in Brisbane, or maybe I will just go home after a couple of days. I didn't know. She said that she admired people like me
who could live their life without knowing what was coming next. I wish I could have told her that I actually wanted to know what was happening next.
I was talking to a friend last night, and they said much the same thing. They admired me because I did things that they could never dream of doing. I was puzzled. I hadn't swum with sharks, hadn't skydived or anything else that one may be admiral about. She said because she could never do things alone like I have. Like I had a choice?
She said that she and her husband have been together since they were really young, so she has never been alone. I don't see what is so exciting about being alone and would gladly swap places with all these people who play happy couples every day. Having someone around who loves me, and has their arms wrapped around me is something I am yet to experience. I just don't get what there is to admire about me I
guess.
Anyhoos, I got to Brisbane and walked around aimlessly for a few hours. My backpack was pretty heavy, so I wanted to put it somewhere but I had no accomodation booked. I figured I might as well book into a backpackers that I was originally going to stay at last year when I wanted to visit my friends in Brisbane. I went in and the girl behind the counter asked me to fill in a form, which I did. I indicated on there that my stay would be for two nights.
As she began to serve me, some bloke came in who she knew. She quite obviously found him more interesting, and was therefore not even slightly attentitive me (my guess is she'd like to wake up next to him some time). I was pretty much totally disregarded and was told I was booked in for one night. I mentioned that I had verbally told her I would like two nights accomodation, as well as put two nights down on the form that I
filled in and she said, "Oh, I didn't even look at that". Oh der. I had noticed.
So she handed me a swipe card and this tag with my name on it, as well as the number "25", that I was to attach to my bed. I figured it would be fun to maybe lay cosmotose on my bed in the morning and attach it to my toe. But I won't do that as I am a mature, responsible adult...*cough*. I was puzzled when I got to the lift as she didn't bother to tell me what floor I was on. When I went back and asked she treated me like a dickhead. I was at that time quite eager to seek alternative accomodation. Unfortunately I had already paid for it and figured they would probably have some stupid no cancellations policy or something.
I got up to the room and there was already a cosmotose male British backpacker lying on the bed. I looked around for where I could attach my tag - preferably not on the top bunk.
Unfortunately all the ground level beds were taken, so my tag got attached to the top bunk. Grr. I wasn't really impressed with the room. It was so tiny. I hope the place doesn't catch fire. Ick. I am definately not staying there again. I have stayed at backpacker hostels before and they have been great. This one though, I just felt like I didn't belong.
After briefly checking out the room, without having any contact with the backpacker in there, I wandered off again, with my backpack still attached to my back. They do have some sort of luggage storage facility at the backpackers, but I just felt uncomfortable asking after my first experience at reception. A sign caught my attention at reception. It said "Want a job? Bright, bubbly people wanted to help out in this hostel". I went to find the person who was supposed to have these jobs and she bluntly told me there was no work and
glanced at a sign on her desk that stated that there was no work!
I went for another wander and then decided to see if I could visit the warehouse where I usually order my books from. They said no problems, come in. I caught a train and found them successfully, so I was impressed with that. Next thing that impressed me was that they gave me a bright yellow vest to wear whilst in the warehouse. I tell you what, if you want to feel incredibly sexy, try on one of those vests. Mmmm. I am sure I looked hot...perhaps not. The warehouse was huge, and I was left to wheel a trolley with a laptop around it, selecting stock. It took me about an hour and a half. I now have a few hundred dollars worth of books that I can sell when I get back home.
I rung two friends of mine. One had moved out of where they were living when I last spoke to them. Grrr. Another was at work. She is a beauty
therapist, and I was going to surprise her by booking in for a wax. Kekeke. Not that I would have been game to go through with it, but it would have been amusing. Her collegues would be saying, "Yeah, you have this chick here who wants a brazillian wax. She says she hasn't seen you for like 10 years, so thought this might be the perfect way to be reaquainted with her again." Yick.
She was eager to catch up but said that I had picked the worst week to call as she is moving house. We are going to have lunch together tomorrow, but she said she only has half an hour. I said she was worth it *awww*. I also mentioned that I would be back on the 25th of May to see Henry Rollins, so it would be good if we met up for a little longer then. I am so curious to see her again, meet her husband and see her place etc. She looks like a supermodel, I said to her that it would good to catch up with her,
just so she could see how hot I am looking in my old age *cough*.
Anyway, that is about it for today. I am not looking forward to going back to the backpackers, but guess it may make a good diary entry for tomorrow so will go back, against my better judgement.
I ended up getting lost last night in the city. I figured if I just kept walking, I would eventually find my way back to the backpackers. Not so. After a few hours of walking, I ended up catching a taxi. Surprisingly, I slept well and sleeping on the top bunk did not result in any grevious bodily harm. I booked in for another three nights with a much friendlier girl in reception.
Today I went to Indropilly (I don't know how to spell it though!). I had organised a lunch meeting with my friend, and she suggested that if I was looking at
going shopping, that shopping centre would keep me occupied for a while. Indeed it did. I had a yearning to attempt another girl shopping expedition. I was somewhat successful, but not totally. The first thing I bought was a cool t-shirt for only $10, but not at all girly. I then managed to find something girly for the top half, but not the bottom half. Grr. Where are the girlie girls when I need them. I bought the top half anyway. It's all pink. They are sure to be impressed.
I then went and saw my beauty therapist friend. She has just bought a house and is also pregnant. She also took one hour break instead of her normal half an hour break. Oh didn't I feel special...until she told me that she took the extra half an hour because there was a cancellation.
I got chatting to whether people freaked out when they had brazillian waxes. She said that most are okay, but some do. She also
mentioned that she has been getting morning sickness, so sometimes when she's working she needs to go to the client, "Won't be a moment." She then goes out the back to throw up. I said that it would not be good timing if that happened during one of those waxes, especially if the person was already freaking out. They would be telling their friends, "Well I took my gear off, the beautician took one look at the task at hand and then went out the back and threw up."
After my friend went back to work, I then went wandering around the city again. I then caught the bus to New Farm to see UK comedian, Daniel Kitson. I had never seen him before but had heard good things about him, so figured I should check his show out. I was impressed firstly with the venue. It's called "The Powerhouse" which is this amazing old building. Daniel's show was brilliant, and it certainly put my faith back into
stand up comedy after the lacklustre experience I had at the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow last week.
Today wasn't brilliant for me. I am a little frustrated that none of the agencies have contacted me, and also because there does not seem to be any work around. I haven't really done too much over exciting stuff in Brisbane, but I guess that is my own fault? I'm not happy, and the point of this visit to Brisbane was to make me happy. I am flying back to Rockhampton tomorrow afternoon. I am so over it. I woke up today wondering what I was going to do. I had no idea. I wandered over to the transit centre to look at tours to the theme parks, even though I really didn't have a massive desire to go. I just figured it would kill a day, and that I would probably end up having some degree of fun and
excitement, and it would be worth it.
Thing was, I was really tired, as I didn't get to sleep until the early hours of this morning, so I decided to go back to the hostel and go to sleep instead. I got back to the hostel, and decided not to go to sleep and to go out wandering again. I ended up going back to the transit centre and asked the person selling train tickets which train I would catch to go to a major shopping centre. They mentioned Indropilly (I still can't spell it). I told them to try again as I had already been there yesterday. I ended up going to Toombul. It was okay, but nothing too exciting. Not that shopping has ever really been exciting for me. I looked at some more girl clothes. Tried on some girl clothes. Didn't like them, and moved on.
Next, I caught the train back to the city and tried on some more girl clothes. I found a skirt I liked in Portmans, but was
confused about which method the staff were using to serve the people in line. My theory was that those that were at the front of the line who had been waiting longer would be served first. Not so. Girl asks "Who's next?". I and this other chick say "Me thank you". She serves the other chick. I have no idea where she came from. This was only moderately irritating though, so I waited patiently. She finished serving the other lady and then she started helping someone else. I mentioned that I believed I was next, but she said that she didn't know who was next. That did it for me. I gave her back the skirt I was going to purchase and wandered off.
I went to Target and spent another 45 minutes or so trying to find something to match the top half of what I bought yesterday. I believe I found a skirt that sort of matches, but I am not 100% convinced. I did ask the young girl working there for
her advice and she said it looked great. I mentioned to her that it was her job to say that, but she said, "no, honestly it looks great." I don't know. I will have to ask the girly girls when I next see them.
I did one very productive thing today. I organised to get some postcards made up to advertise my website design service. They will be full colour and will look just like the free postcards you see around the place. Cool as. Surprisingly cheap also! It will take about a week apparently to sort out the design and get them printed. They said they could send them to me in Rockhampton too. Hopefully it will result in some sales. If not, oh well...I tried.
I slept in until around 1030 today. I slept surprisingly well for the three nights I was at the backpackers, and no it wasn't cause I picked
up a nice drunk backpacking lad to cuddle up to either. Cause I didn't. Oh well.
Brisbane is a big place. There are trillions of people who live there. The chances of you meeting someone you know whilst wandering around is quite remote. Particularly if they are not from Brisbane. My mothers boyfriend saw me in the mall this morning and said hello. I was dumbfounded as to what to say and just shot him a blank stare. He introduced himself and said that he was my mothers partner. I responded back that I knew who he was. He asked if I wanted to see mum. I said no and he left it at that and said see you later then. Not a chance.
Next, I found this very cool second hand shop. First thing I saw when I walked in were three Doug Anthony Allstars blockmounts. They wanted $100 for them though, and I thought it was a
bit steep considering that they had some minor damage to them. Oh well, more excitement was yet to come. I discovered a Julian Clary video which was marked at $4.95. I took it to the counter and then they said that that price was too cheap for a "rare" video. The person behind the counter said it would more likely be around $7.50, the other employee there said that it would be $10. Again, I was dumbfounded. They then pointed to a sign near the counter that stated that they reserved the right to change prices at any time. They said it was because the value of things was always changing and also that some people come in and try to swap prices as well.
It took all the willpower I could muster to not purchase this video as I've wanted to get a hold of this for ages. I would have happily paid $10
if it was marked at $10. It's the principal of the fact that they can change prices whenever they like. For example, someone with less willpower than me would have maybe gone in with their friends to this store and seen the DAAS blockmounts. These blockmounts are very cool despite being slightly damaged. Conversation would ensue about how exciting it was to find these blockmounts. Person behind counter hears said conversation. The kids walk up to the counter with a $100 note, with the DAAS blockmount which is marked at $100. The person behind the counter takes advantage of their excitement and says, "Yeah, I don't think I can sell it for $100, it is REALLY rare. I am going to have to ask for $120". Get the picture?
I hope that video sits on their stupid shelf (well in the crate I picked it out of!) for a long time. I wanted to mention to them that I had purchased all 5 of Julian
Clary's "Sticky Moments" videos for $5 each a few years back at Red Eye records in Sydney. I was so excited to find them, especially at that price, which I mentioned to the person at Red Eye at the time. They said that they got them in and thought they would sell really quickly, but they sat on their shelf for ages, so they had reduced them to $5 each in the hope that they could get rid of them! Pfft. Nothing like service with a smile.
The one place I was really impressed with the service in Brisbane was the internet cafe in Adelaide Street that I visited on numerous occasions. I almost didn't go in there when I first saw it as it was called "Cyber Room". To me this sounded like some kinky internet cafe where people go and have cyber er...intimate relations with each other via their keyboards. I am happy to report that it was nothing like that though. Damn hey...*cough*. It has one
room full of computers and tvs blasting music videos and another room called "The Quiet Room", where it is er...quiet. The staff in there were all unreal and I will definately go back there for all my internet stuff if I go back to Brisbane.
I asked if I had a laptop could I hook up to the internet there. They said that would be no problem. That would be cool as, so purchasing a laptop is still on my mind. Just the convienience of having all your files and programs ready to go rather than stuffing around with disks of stuff and so forth. I haven't totally written off going to Brisbane for a month or two and working. I think it may just be a better idea to set up interviews before going rather than getting there and going shit why didn't they call me.
I bought one of those dodgy big bags they have in $2 shops cause I knew I was leaving with more crap than I came down with. I packed
everything into it, then went to zip it up. The zip broke instantly. Oh, yes as you could imagine, I was impressed. Ha. What is next I thought? I managed to tie the handles of it together tightly to sort of close it. I figured it was lucky I was only going from Brisbane to Rockhampton rather than somewhere like Bali. If I had, perhaps my bag mishap could have lead to me being bigger news than Shappelle Corby. Pfft.
Something weird that has happened during my travelling experience. I have started to eat rabbit food. No, not those pellets they feed rabbits. Doh. I'm talking about vegies/salad etc. I usually ask for food without lettuce etc. A few nights ago, I was hungry as but I just didn't want any fast food crap. I went to the 7-11 across the road, which usually would be a bad place to look for anything healthy, but they had these chicken wrap things full of the salad stuff I usually
do not eat. I bought one and managed to eat the whole thing. It was quite tasty and didn't leave me wanting to throw up. Today I had some fancy named piece of bread with salad and chicken and stuff in it.
All I can thank for inspiration for this, was a combination of extreme hunger the night I purchased that chicken wrap from the 7-11, as well as watching Jamie Oliver's brilliant series School Dinners. The kids parents were feeding them copious amounts of junk food, and the dinners that they were being served at school were just as bad. The kids were screwing up their noses at a lot of foods that they hadn't even tried. They were just used to the processed crap that they were eating every day and didn't want to try anything new, let alone if it might be healthy. Jamie ended up turning most of
the kids around to liking his healthy food though - quite an achievement!
I got the negative in my eBay feedback that I figured that I was going to get a few days ago. The auction only finished 7 days ago. Harsh. Funny thing was, this person emailed me again the other day, demanding I send payment for the item in question. I sent them a friendly email back saying that there was not a chance of me sending payment due to their abrasive attitude and the fact that they have already left me a negative. I was kind enough to leave the seller a negative too. Some people. Grr.
I had my first auction ever ended today by eBay for "profanity". Ha. Such an accomplishment. They told me that the picture of the item clearly said "fucked". It did not clearly say fucked. It had less than half
the "f". Had it had the full "f", it would have clearly said "fucked". Bah. I have since edited the picture to not have the "f" in it at all (it was in the top picture). I hope that keeps eBay happy. Blah...how amusing. In actual fact, there were three separate eBay listings of mine, all using the same "offensive" picture, yet they only ended one. I do wonder why people bother reporting shit like this.
I may be incorrect, but I believe that today I only narrowly avoided being assaulted for the second time this year, on the safe and friendly streets of Rockhampton. This afternoon, I decided to go for a walk to check my Post Office box. Given that I had been away for a few
days, I figured I might have some mail there to pick up. I was bored enough to check.
As I was approaching the mall in East Street, I had a girl ask me if I had $5. I said, "No, I have no money". I proceeded to walk the other way, away from my original destination, and she walked towards me again. She asked me if I had $2. I said, "No, I have no money, I have no job." At this point, I had already got my phone out and was ready to call the police. She asked if I had $1. I said no (again!), and kept walking until I got to the Police Station, which was (luckily) just around the corner. I tossed up for a moment if I should report what just happened, as it did scare the shit out of me, but decided against it. I guess I am just paranoid after what happened the last time. What would the police do anyway, she didn't touch me. I'm almost certain she would have though had I not walked off, and
if we were not so close to the Police station.
So...last week I was writing about how unimpressed I was with the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow that came to Rockhampton. Today I had a look at a discussion board talking about the comedian line-up of the roadshows going to other towns around Australia. Stewart Lee is going to be doing a some gigs as part of the roadshow. I could have cried. I had hoped that by some off chance he would go to Rockhampton, and had pretty much given up on seeing him after I couldn't go to the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
I had a quick look at his website though and he is doing some gigs in New Zealand, and also in WA. I was immediately intrigued if he was doing any solo shows, or if he was part of the roadshow. I thought ah, I will email him and see. An hour later, I got an email back from the
man himself. He said he wasn't doing any more solo shows in Australia, as all the shows he is doing are going to be part of the roadshow. Whilst this was a little disappointing to find out, I was so impressed to get such a speedy reply. Unreal :)
The one place I can see his solo show is New Zealand, where there is another Comedy Festival going on. It's not on for much longer, so I would need to make up my mind pronto. There's not too many names I recognise who are performing at this festival, but attending it would hopefully be somewhat of a consolation after not being able to get to Melbourne this year. Or...I could go to one of the Roadshow gigs in WA, and also finally go to Norseman to check out the cheap houses I have been raving about forever. Unfortunately, instead of getting an hour show, I would get around 20 minutes
I think of his standup. Depends on the other comedians who are performing if it would be worthwhile I guess?
I applied for another temp job today. If all goes well, I may have around 3 weeks work from the 11th of May. Originally, the receptionist at the agency wanted me to go to Centrelink to get a jobsearch number prior to applying. I said that was not going to happen. She said that it worked out better for the agency if I had a jobsearch id. Like I didn't know that. Do I care? No.
I am already saving the Government money by not being on the dole. I don't care if the agency does not get a payment from the Government as a result of placing me in a job. Furthermore, the job ad asked people to drop in for an interview from 9am today. You would assume that all
the eligible jobseekers out there who were on the dole in Rockhampton would be lined up at the agency for interviews at 9am, eager to work. Not so. I was the only one there.
The next lady I spoke to was very nice and said that they would be doing interviews tomorrow and would I be available. I said yes. So...lets see what happens. I had a chat with her about another job they have advertised that is going through until June. It is in Emerald and it is grape vine pruning. Yes, sounds exciting I know. Apparently they have accomodation there for around $10 a night. The things you are accomodated in are called "dongas". It would be worthwhile going out there just to say, "I stayed in a donga!".
I have my delivery of books that I picked out during my Brisbane visit arriving within the next couple of days. Unreal. In another week or so, I will have my postcards which advertise my webdesign.
The bloke did say that he would get back to me today though, and that didn't happen. Grr. I am sure it will all work out. *cough*.
The clock had clicked past midday, and I found it somewhat offputting that I had not yet been called about the interview. I figured I would ring the agency to see what was going on. The lady I spoke to yesterday answered, and when I enquired about the interview, she said she thought that she had given me the job, and all the job details yesterday and apologied. No worries I said, being the friendly, patient person that I am. She then confirmed that I had the job. Yay. I start tomorrow.
There are a few dodgy things about it. For example, she could not provide me with the amount per hour my wage would be, other than that it was the "state award wage". I figure I will
ask the actual employers tomorrow. If they can't give me a straight answer, I will have to reconsider whether I want to work for three weeks without being given the courtesy of knowing what wage I am getting. Pfft.
She was able to give me some more information about the grape pruning job though. You are paid approximately $150 - $175.00 per row. Apparently, a good pruner can do up to 2 rows a day, but most workers will do 1 to 1 ½ rows a day. Someone can work seven days a week. Imagine the $$$, even if you only did one row a day, let alone two.
Today, I woke up to find it was raining. It didn't seem to want to stop, which was a little inconvienient considering that I was about to walk to work. God and his timing hey?! Pfft. I decided to walk to work as I thought it would be lame for me to
call a taxi. My aim was to get to work without getting totally soaked. I somehow achieved this...well...to an extent, so was impressed.
There were quite a few people around, all standing outside of this empty store that we were to be setting up. We filled in some forms, then were told to go away for half an hour or so while they sorted their shit out. We came back and were told to go home. This usually would have pissed me off, but the person in charge was really nice about it, so it was all okay.I think this three week job is going to work out just fine. Sounds like they will be selling some cool stuff too! Hopefully this will be the case, as we get a quite substantial staff discount :) It may just help me in my efforts to be a girl!
I wanted to check before I left what exactly I would need to wear when I was working in the store, cause I really do not have anything like black and
white or anything like shop assistant like. The person in charge said what I was wearing was fine, as they are pretty casual. I was wearing jeans, joggers and a t-shirt, so this made my day. I then went and spent some money on some other crap instead.
I then did a combo of walking and running home and managed to get totally soaked. I got home and switched on the telly - the ad that was running was for the store I am working in. Yay. Timing, timing. Next, I got the final proofs back for the postcards I am getting produced to advertise my webdesign business. I have now paid for them, and they should be arriving within the next week or so. Yay! Now, I am off to see Grinspoon tonight.
Today went really well. The place I am working has an amazing amount of cool stuff, all of it very cheap. To save
me money on impulse buys, I was hoping that the stuff they were selling would be crap, unfortunately it definitely isn't crap, so it looks like I will be spending quite a few of my hard earned dollars there. I have more to write about the Grinspoon concert last night, as well as my day today...but...I'm really tired at the moment, so will put a more lengthy update here tomorrow :P
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I am very tired, and various limbs are aching as a result of my activities over the last couple of days - regrettably none of which involve close personal
contact with males. At work, I have been lifting/folding/hanging a lot of stuff, and at Grinspoon, I was right at the front where the barrier was, and I got rather squished. My positioning at the Grinspoon concert left me with this weird pain on the inside of both of my arms, just above the elbow, which I still have after two days. Thankfully all the other limbs survived. Then at work, everything else got sore as a result of all the lifting and so forth I have been doing.
The day Grinspoon were on, it didn't stop raining all day. I managed to get caught in the rain twice, plus had worked all day, so was feeling less than inspired. I didn't want to go the concert too early, but ended up arriving just after 730pm, which was waaay too early. The support band was on at 915, and Grinspoon were on "...whenever they arrive". Yes, that is a direct quote. The reason why I don't like going to
these things too early is because I feel so totally uncomfortable and left out in situations like this. I don't drink, and I don't smoke. I don't have any desire to do anything mind altering, I just want to see the band. Everyone else there wants to smoke, drink, and perhaps see the band - if they haven't passed out in the bar beforehand.
I sat in the corner, and just observed everything that was going on around me for about an hour. Predictibly, I was feeling very intimidated, and quite morbid. I was thinking about all the usual things that I can't change that make me sad on a regular basis. I ended up going outside and standing around as I figured it would be a better option. Breathing in smoke isn't the best thing for my asthma, so I figured if I was bored, I may as well be bored outside in the fresh air. There was nothing inspiring me inside the venue, so removing myself from it, I
wasn't really missing anything. The dj was playing an okay selection of music, but the sound quality was shithouse, so yeah...as I said, nothing inspiring.
I wandered back in around 915 to see the support band, 67 Special. I started off watching them from a few metres away from the stage. This stupid drunk female nearby was doing her best to heckle the singer. She squealed something along the lines of, "Why don't you just fuck off cause I don't know any of your songs. You are shit, bring out Grinspoon because that is who I am here to see". There's no way he could have heard her, so she was essentially wasting her breath. I wanted to tell her to shut up, but didn't feel like being beaten by some stupid drunken wench. Instead, I went up to the front of the stage where the barrier was and watched the rest of the bands set. I was astounded by how much the singer sweated. Funny thing was
he would from time to time come right up to the front of the stage and jump around, showering some of the more girlie girls in the front row with his sweat. I smiled as I watched the girls step back a notch every time he came up to the front of the stage near them.
After they had finished, I remained where I was, directly in front of the stage, right in the front row where the barrier was. The people to the right of me were trying to get one of their mates into the front so they could be on the barrier too. This resulted in some fairly full on pushing in my direction. I must have looked like an easy target. There was no way that I was going to give up my spot after all the waiting I did to get there, so I just held on tight, not prepared to be pushed out of my rightfully earned position. This stupid immature game continued, even though I would not budge. Eventually I got incredibly
frustrated and just sent a big push in their direction. Fuckers.
That stopped them - for the moment. Soon after, I got a tap on my back. "'Scuse me, I was in the front row with my friends and I lost my place, can you move across so that I can get back in with my friends?" There was obviously no space, so I said no, and ignored a few other pleas from this obviously stupid drunken female. I heard her or one of her friends say, "Hopefully she will pass out." They then continued to discuss me in an unfavourable light. The concert started, and more pushing from this person ensued. I continued to hold on to the barrier and managed to prevent her from taking my spot.
At some point, a drink was spat or poured on my head, which was of course very much appreciated. The girls next to me were pathetic, constantly singing and pointing at Phil (the singer), as well as holding up a sign. The girl
right next to me kept hitting me in the head, and kept touching my head saying sorry. I wanted her to punch her and say sorry. Unfortunately, I am not a violent person. I think that these girls were quite possibly groupies of the band, who may have had some close personal experience with a band member or two at some stage, and read way too much into it. Of course I am probably wrong, but oh shit they were pathetic. Another reason why I don't drink. I don't want to behave like one of the stupid females that I have just described.
Despite all this, Grinspoon still rocked. One of the poor security guards managed to split the back of his pants also. Poor bloke. Here you are trying to look tough and professional and all that, then your pants split. Kekeke. Ooops.
I work tomorrow again at 9am, when the shop opens for the first time. I'm not sure how long I am working yet, or even if I am
going to like what I will be doing...but I guess I will find out. I thought I would be on registers, but today we were told that they were only going to train one of the other temps at the moment. It looks like I will be one of those people walking around going, "Hi, how are you today?" (like I care!). Or people asking me to find this item in this size etc etc. I don't know. As long as my wandering mind is kept busy, even if I am doing something menial and boring, I will be happy. I will also hopefully go on a bit of a spending spree after work finishes as well, and leave with a couple of bags full of beautiful, new, and very cheap clothes :)
I have managed to clock up 32 hours work since I started this job only a few days ago, so am happy as. I am rostered on for 21.5 hours next week. Awesome.
At work today, I got to look after the denim section which was more inspiring than I thought it would be. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but yeah it was a good day. First highlight of the day was a boy who pulled off his pants to try on his jeans...but he ended up having boxers on. Oh well. Where is the excitement in that? Scratch that as a highlight I guess!
Next highlight of the day was when a customer asked my boss where the nearest adult shop was. She said that she wasn't sure as she isn't from Rockhampton, but that maybe I would know???!!!!. I kept a straight face and described how to get there. I said I didn't know exactly what number it was, but said that it was on Musgrave Street somewhere. I also elaborated that I have never been in there, but know it is there as I walk past it when I am going to the shopping centre. I am not sure if they believed me!
The only time I
have been into an adult shop was by accident. It was when I was in primary school. I used to walk around all the local homes and businesses selling raffle tickets. One day, I innocently walked into a shop called, "Love Heart", to sell said tickets. I admittedly got a bit of a surprise when I walked in and realised what sort of shop it was! Needless to say, the owners did buy a ticket or two, so my first and only visit to an adult shop wasn't entirely in vain.
And...my third highlight of the day? Buying a groovy girlie skirt, and two very groovy girlie tops at work. The grand total? $17.45. The items I bought are probably worth ten times that amount. What a bargain. I am going to buy some more stuff next week. This shop has sooooo much cool stuff! Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Over the last few days I have been listing my new stock up on eBay. I still have another 9 more items to list, and yes I have been taking my time to list them, it is just that I have been working lots over the last few days and have been too tired. I have a few days off after tomorrow, so I hope to have everything listed by Monday.
Tonight, I have been listening to some of my new cds. My stupid neighbour (not the cool neighbour), has just knocked on my door and asked me to switch it off as it was past 10pm. Where there is a rule stating that all noise must cease at 10pm, I do not know...but yeah, I just switched it off being the nice neighbourly person that I am.
A big thank you to the one person who bothered to sign my guestbook - thank you. They suggested that if I wanted
more feedback, I should switch on bloggers comment thingie. Unfortunately I can not do this as I don't use the blogger site. I originally used the blogger system waaay back, but got frustrated with it and ended up writing the diary using my own html. Yes, if I was clever I could have written my own script to allow people to leave comments, but I am not... If someone out there knows how to do this and wants to help me, do let me know.
Um...yeah. Work was good today and went relatively quickly. I have three days off now and plan to go into work tomorrow and buy a heap of clothes. I then intend to wander around aimlessly for the rest of the day. Only ten days until I see Henry Rollins in Brisbane! I'm going to fly down on the 25th and leave on the 26th. The shop I am working at will close a few days later, so I will be working there until then, and at this stage I still am eager to go to
Emerald to do the grape vine pruning.
One more guestbook entry was made today. I can barely contain my excitement.
For some reason I had trouble sleeping last night. Perhaps it was due to lack of guestbook entries as a result of my previous posts? Pfft. I finally got to sleep in the early hours of the morning, and was awoken at around 6am after hearing numerous loud crashes and bangs. I wasn't sure what was going on, but thought someone may have been trying to break in. It turned out that the tenant who does the cleaning around here decided that it would be a good idea to get cleaning. I have heard her clean before and I don't know how she manages to make so much noise...but yeah. Grr. I didn't spit chips at her about being woken up. I figure that it is best to keep her on side to make my stay
here as pleasant as possible.
I ended up going back to sleep for a few hours, then went shopping at my workplace as planned. For $86.25, I walked out with a mixture of girl and boy clothes for myself. Three more girlie tops, two pairs of jeans, and a skirt. I then went off track a little and got tempted in the menswear section. Not cause there were any boys there to look at, but the clothes there were pretty impressive. I ended up getting two mens long sleeve shirts, and a pair of short cargo pants type things.
I haven't really placed a lot of pride in my clothing for a long time, as its been so long since I bought anything for myself. What clothes I do have usually get folded up in my cupboard somewhere. Today, I figured it was time to purchase some coathangers. I went home and hung up all my clothes, and all was very exciting until I managed to somehow scrape my wrist on the
cupboard as I was reaching into it. The result is a light scratch which runs right across my wrist. I will definately be wearing my new long sleeve shirts until it disappears as it looks like I have been trying to slash my wrist or something. Ick.
I went for a long walk today to the shopping centre over the north side of town. It has been quite cold the last few nights, so I figured that I either needed to get a bloke to cuddle up to at night, or purchase a nice warm blanket. I figured that it would be easier to hand over the $$$ for a new blanket, as there is zero to none chance of finding a willing bloke.
I have also been aquiring quite a few cds recently and decided that today was the time to work out a solution to the storage problem. I bought a groovy metal case which was meant to be a
toolbox, and then bought a stack of cd sleeves to put the cds into. Because I have got rid of all the plastic cases, I should now be able to store around 300-400 cds in this case. If I get back into djing, it will also be much easier to move all my cds around also.
I am feeling bored and need to do something inspiring to occupy my feeble braincells. I think I may just go to sleep instead.
The 5000 postcards that I ordered to advertise my webdesign business were delivered to me this afternoon. I then went out for a few hours and managed to deliver around 400 of them. It only took about 15 minutes before I was nearly attacked by a dog. Um...thats about it. No more to report. Boring.
I was ambused this morning as I was about to leave for work by one of the other tenants. She asked if I could loan her $2 until next week. I told her that I don't even lend money to friends. She didn't say anything, but she wasn't impressed.
I then went to work, and it was great again. I wore one of my groovy new shirts, as well as my first ever pair of boots, with a rather substantial chunky heel on them that I purchased the other day. I felt so tall! My poor feet did ache though by the end of the day. The things girls go through hey!
I got home, and there was an email from my real estate agent saying that they would be coming around tomorrow at 11am to do a fire drill. She asked if it was convienient. Not really, considering I wanted to spend the day delivering these postcard things...but...yeah...if I am here, it will at least be over and done with. She asked if I could tell another tenant that she would be here too. The other tenant turned out to be the one who asked me for money this morning.
I didn't really want to see her, and was just going to not bother, but I went to do some washing, and there were some clothes that were left in the machine. I figured they may have been hers, so went and knocked on her door. When she opened the door, I was greeted with a really strong smoke smell and she obviously wasn't impressed to see me. She seemed uninterested in the fire drill. I then asked if she had washing in the machine, and she said sorry she forgot about it. She went and got it out of the machine so I could use it, unpacked her stuff into a washing basket, and said she would come out soon and hang it up. A couple of hours later after my washing was all done and hung up, it was still sitting there.
Some of my eBay auctions finished today, and I am really happy with how most of them went. I have more auctions finishing within the next few days...will see what happens!
I woke up at 6am today, and was out of the house by 7am to continue delivering of the postcards. I was so overly enthused (not!) about getting up early to do this, given that I have not yet recieved any calls or emails as a result of my previous delivery. I delivered around 500 of the postcards, again avoiding getting attacked by any of the dogs that were not suitably restrained by their irresponsible owners.
I needed to get back home by 11am for this fire drill thing and was running out of time, so I ran most of the way back. Well...I ran until my head started spinning. I got back home and went through the fire thing, watched a bit of Dr Phil, then was out of the house again by 1pm to deliver some more. I needed to walk over the north side of town to do a couple of things at one of the shopping centres there. Stupid me managed to forget to do one of the things I was meant to do, so will have to wander back there next week. Grr. Anyways, I managed to deliver around 900 postcards today, and my feet are aching....so hopefully I will be inundated with calls and emails over the next few days...pfft.
Today I confirmed that I would be starting my job in Emerald a day or so after I finish at this store I am currently working at. I rung an internet cafe in Emerald and asked if I could plug a laptop in at their store to access the internet and they said no. I guess I need to do some more research to see if anywhere else has net access or a phone line I can use. Grr. This place charges $6 an hour for internet access...for that price, it would want to be good. I can do most of the stuff I need to do at the internet cafe on their computers, but it would be helpful to have a laptop to work on stuff offline at least.
The tenant who wanted for me to loan her money yesterday asked me if she could borrow some of my cds to burn. I told her no in the nicest possible way. Well...that is about all I can type for now as I am totally exhausted from the days activities.
I woke up early this morning to find the tenant who had asked me for money and cds the other day loitering just outside my door. She said she was bored. I said that was nice and went to the bathroom. Later I overheard her telling another tenant that she had bought a dvd player today. Sounds like she really needed that loan the other day. How remiss of me not to help.
I wanted to wear my joggers to work cause my feet were still sore, but unfortunately I almost destroyed them yesterday during my early morning postcard delivery. I had thrown them in the washing machine as they had grass and mud all over them, and they had not yet dried out. Even if they were dry, they still looked pretty feral, so I stupidly decided to wear the boots with heels again.
After walking to work, my feet were already killing me, plus I was still rather tired and uninspired, and had no idea how I was going to make it to 530pm. My boss mentioned that I might get sent home early cause they didn't need everyone all day, so that was cool as. I ended up going home at 4pm. It was such a struggle trying to walk home! I was so tired, I ended up going to sleep the moment I got home.
Today I recieved some interesting and rather disturbing information from a work collegue in regards to the grape vine pruning job in Emerald. As this information has come from a secondary source, I don't know if it is all entirely correct, however, it is as follows....
A friend of theirs has just came back from Emerald, and apparently the provided $10 a night accomodation is an approx 7km walk to where the vines are. Apparently the wages are 50 cents an hour. Apparently there is a rather sleazy boss...oh...and apparently they do not let females do the pruning as they can not handle anything sharp?!!??? Females are there to pick up all the crap apparently? Apparently 8 people walked off the job on the first day that this persons friend was there. I hope that the information I was given was not entirely correct as I am still very eager to go to Emerald.
I have set my alarm clock for 6am tomorrow, and am going to spend the day delivering more postcards, as well as getting the eBay stuff I have just sold ready to send. The majority of my eBay auctions went really well, so at least I have that to fall back on if I decide against going to Emerald.
Whilst I did set my alarm clock for 6am before I went to sleep, at some point in the middle of the night I woke up and turned it off so that I could sleep in. Nothing like dedication and commitment to the task at hand.
I ended up leaving the house at around 9am and didn't finish delivering the postcards until around 6pm. Again, I am totally wiped out as a result of this. I wanted to finish up the postcard delivering the moment I started. I just couldn't be bothered, nevertheless, I pushed on and delivered around 1000 more postcards, as well as met countless more dogs that scared the shit out of me. Oh well...only another 2700 more postcards to go.
I had lunch with some of the girls I used to work with today, which was cool as. I have decided against the grape vine pruning for the time being. Instead of going to Emerald, I am going to Western Australia to finally check out the houses in Norseman that I have been harping on about forever. l will also hopefully see Stewart Lee at the comedy festival roadshow in Perth.
Instead of procrastinating some more, I bought my plane ticket tonight, and will arrive in Perth next Tuesday. So that I can keep in front financially, I am going to try to get some temp work while I am over there, and have started applying for jobs tonight on the internet. If I do not get any work, it is not a huge deal though. I don't need to work to finance my trip, but it just would be helpful as far as keeping the savings happening, as well as keeping the credit card under control.
I am flying to Brisbane tomorrow afternoon to see Henry Rollins, and then back to Rockhampton early the next morning. I haven't got any accomodation booked in Brisbane, given the short time I will be there, so I will need to keep myself occupied for the six hours or so between when the Rollins show finishes and my plane leaves. I figured I can spend my time at a 24 hour internet cafe writing a diary entry, as well as writing a review of the show, or perhaps reading a good book if I can find one.
Well...here I am in Brisbane writing this entry in my favourite 24 hour internet cafe. Not that I have been into many 24 hour internet cafes...but anyways...blah!
As luck would have it, the Bravenet site, which hosts epodcentral appears to be down at the moment. So...until it goes back up, my website has disappeared from the internet. I can't upload files, and I can't even get into my email! I have 6 hours until my flight leaves. Oh yay. Despite all this, Bravenet is still the most reliable hosting company I have used. I have started to write this diary entry in notepad, so hopefully by the time the diary update is finished, the site will be up and running again so I can upload it, as well as check my emails!
I didn't sleep very well last night, and got up fairly early in the morning to package some more eBay items, as well as post them. With all the thought and planning that goes into running my eBay business, you wouldn't think I would run out of sticky tape...right? Well...I did, and decided to go into Crazy Clarks to purchase some more. There was only one person serving, and I joined the end of the line. About a minute later I heard a lady say to another person in line that she wasn't sure if she was in the right line. Too right lady, you are not in the right line. To join a queue, you stand behind the last person in line, you do not - I repeat - do not, stand to the right of say the second person waiting in line. For a moment, I pondered what was best to do in this situation, and decided that it was too much brain strain for this time of the morning, so dutifully dropped the sticky tape and went to coles instead to stock up.
After watching Dr Phil, and doing various other exciting things such as washing, I called a cab to take me to the airport. I was considering walking there, but decided against it, as I don't really know the way there. I had only walked there last time by accident during one of my adventures. Plus, I was wearing my girl shoes, so even if I would have made it to the airport, my feet probably would have been ready to fall off. The taxi driver asked me if I was going to see the game. I wasn't sure what he was on about, so I asked. He confirmed that State of Origin was on tonight. That answered my question I guess, as to why the plane tickets were so much to travel today. When I was booking them, I had no idea, and was trying to work out what may have been on that would have caused the price to be higher, but now I know. Just bad timing I guess!
I got my plane boarding pass, and went to go through the beepy machine thingie. This usually is pretty simple for me to do, cause I make sure that everything metal that I have is chucked into my backpack before I go through. I shuddered a little when the man in front of me was asked to remove his belt. I glanced down and remembered that I was wearing my new girl belt - the first one I have ever purchased. I noted the amount of metal in it, remembered how long it took me to put on, and prayed that I wouldn't have to remove it, but I did. Grr. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The plane left Rockhampton later than it was supposed to, but it ended up getting to Brisbane only 5 minutes later than the scheduled time, so no big deal. As I flew Qantas, I actually got given crap, which was rather exciting. The highlight was a Triple Chocolate Fudge cookie, made by the Byron Bay Cookie Company. Now, as previously reported, I have given up chocolate and Coca Cola, but I do still allow for some chocolate related things, and wow this was worth it. Mmm yay. I got seated next to a couple of rows of slightly inebriated males who were off to the footy. I heard one of them say,"I was hoping I would be sat next to a hot chick, but yeah no luck with that." Yeah, they were probably refering to their male mate sitting next to them, but I was only 2 seats across from them, and it was a little off putting!
When I arrived in Brisbane, the first thing I did was try to locate the Tivoli Theatre, where Henry Rollins was performing. I wanted to pick up my ticket early, so that I knew that it was definitely there. Mainly because I have never collected tickets from a venue before, and I had this strong sense of paranoia that I would ask for my ticket, after travelling all the way from Rockhampton, and then be told that they didn't have it! I had printed out a map prior to leaving home today, but it neglected to mention half the names of the smaller streets, so I got a little lost. I was feeling very paranoid as it was dark, and the streets I was walking around in were not the sort of streets I like to be walking around in the dark. My girl
clothes must have worked, I actually had two blokes stop and ask if I was lost. Ha. Yes, this is the first time in the history of my life where someone has stopped when I looked lost.
I managed to make it to the Tivoli Theatre, which is convieniently located in a really dark, horrible backstreet. It was also very convieniently closed. Haha. This can not get any better I thought. Anyhoos, I moved on, as I had previously organised to meet up with an eBay person in the Brunswick Street Mall. It is so suprising how different people are to what you percieve them to be on the internet. I thought she was much older, but looked so young - and omg, she was the splitting image of Missy Higgins. I asked her if she had been told how similar she looks to her, and she said that no she hasn't yet. I was thinking that it would have been cool as if some kid came up to us and asked for her autograph, but sadly it didn't happen. Oh well.
After chatting for around an hour about the fun *insert sarcasm here* one has with eBay, she said she would walk me back to the Tivoli Theatre. I said that would be great, but I didn't think it was a great idea for her to drop me there and then go wandering around in the dark. She said she would be fine and that she wanders around there all the time. I wasn't entirely convinced, but said okay bye anyway. I managed to pick up my ticket without any problems. Knowing how long Henry Rollins can talk for, I made sure that I didn't drink anything, as well as emptied the bladder before I made my way into the theatre. The trip to empty the bladder was well worth it, just to see the toilets. They are all class. Like, there is even a big lounge chair in there! I then headed to the merchandise table, where I purchased the latest Rollins dvd.
In the theatre, I was sitting on the end of a row of around 6 people. At approximately 810pm, Henry started talking, and - as usual - I was immediately taken in by his stories - how could one not be? The man is so intense! At this point, the other 6 people had not yet arrived. They did arrive about 5 minutes later. Then they continued to talk through most of the show, as well as get up frequently to get drinks, go have a smoke, have root (?) etc. Everytime this happened, this stupid irritating bloke would say sorry, but everytime he said sorry, and I had to move, I was missing a bit of the show. I just found it to be so disrespectful - not just for the people who had to listen to them talking, and observe them constantly getting up - but how could you possibly not be blown away by what Henry had to say. Unbelieveable. I was truly shocked. Some dickhead (who thankfully wasn't sitting
in my row), stood right in front of Henry, and interrupted a story that he telling. Why? To give Henry a lighter. No point at all. What is wrong with these people? Why pay close to $50 for a ticket if you are going to just dick around. Go and see Guy Sebastian or something! Arrr!
Despite the stupid behaviour of the people in my row, the show was unreal. Henry Rollins is an absolute legend, and I am still totally in awe with what he does. He talked about a lot of stuff, including Shappelle Corby, Kylie, the war, George Bush, visiting the troops, and the Ramones. He also recounted conversations he has had with a burglar, a telemarketer, and a teenage beggar. The show ended after about 3 hours, and I wandered out thinking I would just walk with all the people and it would be pretty safe. It was, until I got to the train station. As I was walking out of the train station to hopefully catch a cab, I saw someone getting mugged. They mentioned to the person that they had all their "brotha's" outside. I was scared shitless and didn't know where to go.
I ended up standing outside the station, and calling a cab as I didn't really want to try to walk past these people. I was freaking out after the cab hadn't arrived after around 10 minutes, and didn't know what to do. I figured that I was probably best staying where I was, given that there were a few premises open across the road that I could run into if there was a problem. One was a strip joint, the other was a peep show place. Admittedly, I wasn't sure which - if any - I really wanted to run into though! A big group of people that looked like a happy family stopped and asked me if I was okay. I said that I wasn't really, but I had called a cab. They suggested that I walk up to the next street to catch a cab. I said I would give it a go if mine didn't arrive, and they moved on. One of the blokes that was sitting in the same row as me at the Rollins gig also came up to me and apologied for his friends behaviour. He then disappeared into the strip joint across the road.
I decided to call the cab company again and see whether I could get an update on the cab I ordered. As I was speaking to an operator on the line, I saw a cab drive past and managed to hail it. I told the operator to disregard as I had just got a taxi. I then got the driver to take me to the internet cafe, where I am now. Yay, my website and email is all working again. Kekeke. Mmm.
It is now around four hours until I fly out of Brisbane, and as this diary entry is now written, I will need to find something else internet related to keep me occupied. I think I can check in at the airport at 4am, so still a bit of time to go yet! Then, I can waste an hour or so eating and reading the paper at the airport and then get home. I am really tired, but I don't know if I should sleep all day today cause I don't really want to screw up my sleep pattern any more than it already is.
After I left the internet cafe in the early hours of this morning, I went for a wander to attempt to catch a cab to the airport. I didn't have far to wander, and found a line of people waiting for cabs just opposite the casino. A bloke offered to share a cab with me, and I said no problems, and got to the airport around 430am. At this point, I was really hungry, but nothing was open. A few places opened just after 5am though, and I managed to purchase a very overpriced bacon and egg toasted sandwich thingie. I boarded the plane okay and was happy to get back to Rockhampton.
I went straight to sleep when I got home, and then woke up again after a few hours to go for a walk. I went to the post office, and then stopped by at Officeworks to have a look at laptops. I think I am almost ready to buy one, but it is so confusing trying to work out which one, as they all seem much the same to me.
I've had a couple of problems applying for jobs due to not having a jobseeker number. I decided to call Centrelink to see if employers can discriminate against someone who does not have a jobseeker number. The first operator I spoke to was clueless and transferred me to another department. I was on hold for a few minutes, then got a recorded message that all operators were busy and could I leave my name and number. Nup, I wanted to talk to a human now. I called back again and spoke to someone else. They wanted to transfer me to another department again, even though the number on the centrelink website suggested that if I called it, that I would be able to speak to someone who could help me. I asked for a number I could call to get in contact with customer service, and the operator refused to provide it to me. They said that the only way for me to speak to them was to call this number, and them transfer me. Screw that.
I requested to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor stated that yes, employers can discriminate against someone if they do not have a job seeker number. When I tried to clarify what particular wording should be in job ads if this is the case, the supervisor was fairly evasive, and it seemed that he did not have the knowledge answer to my question. I asked if there were any particular jobs that did not qualify for an additional payment by the government if someone such as myself had applied for one. My main case in point is the fact that the two times in the last couple of weeks I have been challenged to provide a jobseeker ID, the jobs have both been extremely short term, temporary jobs. IE both go for approx 2-3 weeks, and that is it. What is the point of the government paying an agency an extra fee to place someone into a job if it is not permanent, full time work? It does not make
sense! If I was on the dole, it is quite possible that the amount earned in my current temp job would not have affected my dole payment. IE I could have still got part payment of the dole, as well as my wages.
The other thing I wanted to find out was how much paperwork I would need to complete to get a jobseeker number - he was unsure of that as well. I just don't want to spend three hours at centrelink filling out paperwork and so forth, just to get a jobseeker number. If I do that, I might as well just apply for the dole! See how encouraging the government makes it to be a dole bludger? Grrr. Anyhoos...the supervisor was unable to answer my questions with any clarity, and said that the people who were best to speak to were in the customer service area. I asked if he could find me someone who wasn't on another call. He said no. The best he could do was tranfer me through to the number. Unlike the previous person I spoke to though, he was able to provide me with the phone number that I requested. He transferred me through and I got the answering service again and decided to give up for the day.
I'm now off to watch my newly purchased Henry Rollins dvd, and get some more sleep!
I figured that I would test my patience again with Centrelink this morning. I called them, and got told that to reactivate my jobseeker number, I would need to call the Job Network place that I went to the last time I was on the dole (which, was for around a week by the way, after I got really desparate for money!). The person I was speaking with said that they could not reactivate my jobseeker ID, but that the Job Network person would definately be able to help me. I wondered why the three people I spoke to yesterday - including a supervisor, were unable to provide me this simple answer to a simple question.
My conversation with Centrelink gave me the impression that the Job Network place would be able to reactivate the number over the phone. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I was told that I was required to visit them in person to use one of the touch screens in their premises. They couldn't do it over the phone for privacy reasons! I asked how long it took to do this, as well as if there were ever any problems with reactivating numbers via these touch screens. She said yes, that some people have problems, and in that case they are then told to call centrelink to reactivate it over the phone!!!!!!!
I asked for the phone number that I would be given by the agency if my jobseeker Id failed to reactivate via their touch screens. I then called the number and was about to spin a story about going into the Job Network place and my jobseeker ID not working, but didn't even end up having to say that. You can reactivate it on the internet. It has taken me over an hours worth of conversations with Centrelink just to get that miniscule amount of information. Unbelieveable. I now believe that I have a fully activated jobseeker Id, however as the web page didn't confirm that it was active, who knows really. Blah.
I watched two very awesome dvds over the last 24 hours. The Henry Rollins dvd that I got whilst I was in Brisbane, and Jimbo's new dvd, "Goin' Off! - Around Australia With Jimbo". If you want to check out the Jimbo dvd, contact him via his website for more details on how to purchase one! My two Julian Clary videos which I purchased on eBay have now also arrived, so I am looking forward to checking them out asap too.
Work finishes up on the 29th, and then it is off to WA on the 31st. Hopefully having this insipid jobseeker number, I will have more of a chance of getting a job. If not, no big deal...but yeah it would be nice. I am still uncertain about purchasing a laptop, so although it would definately be convienient, I think that I will procrastinate about it some more.
Two members of the male species expressed interest in me today. Ha ha. How amusing.
Firstly, I said hello to a bloke at work who I hadn't seen for a couple of days. He said he was thinking about me last night. I was like oh okay...cool...*cough*splutter*cough*. He then confirmed that his thoughts of me were whilst he was drinking. I said thanks for that, and moved on. Next, was a cab driver who was driving me and some of my work collegues home. He said that he could come to my house and we could have our own private party....*ick*. I found this rather creepy, and so wanted to say to this guy, "Err. thanks for the offer, but sorry I am a lesbian."
Tonight, work organised a dinner at a local restuarant. Being the social butterfly that I am...*cough*...I was of course in attendance. Although I walk past this restuarant all the time, I didn't realise that it only served Indian Food. Ick. My boss asked me why I wasn't eating, and I said that I didn't realise it was Indian food, and that I would just have a drink instead. She tried to get the chef to cook me something else, but they said no they couldn't and ran through a list of excuses why they could not do it. Apparently the kitchen closes at 8pm (when we actually made the booking). Although I was cool about not eating there, I found the staff to be quite rude and unhelpful. They also kicked us out at I think 9pm or thereabouts as they were closing.
We then tried to think of somewhere else to go, and the closest thing was a nightclub full of strippers, but we didn't go there. Oh well...kekekeke. I can live without that. We ended up going to the Great Western Hotel where there was a rodeo. Gawd, the place is amazing. A full rodeo type set up joined in with a pub. You wouldn't think that it was right in the middle of Rockhampton city. We got to see a bit of bull riding at the rodeo. The announcer said "this bull hasn't been riden for many years". I was like, er yeah sounds like me. Anyone want to have a go? Pfft.
What I saw of the bullriding was very scarey. The lengths blokes will go to ride something hey. Anyhoos, after the rodeo, we stayed around and chatted for a while and listened to the band who were playing. Then we all shared the taxi home with the creepy taxi driver. The end.
Today was fun. I went to work for three hours, and gave the poor bloke who was "thinking" about me some more grief. He ran his fingers through my hair...er...well...not exactly. Apparently he wanted to read the print on the back of my shirt, so motioned for me to turn around, and then he had to move my hair out of the way to read it. I was almost ready to ask if he wanted a closer look at the print on the front of my shirt, but ah that would be wrong. Oh well...sounded exciting anyway.
The shop closed today, so we were packing up all the stock so that it could be moved on to the next location. One of the blokes who went to dinner with us last night said that when he walked back to his car, the car next to him had two girls in it, and one was sucking on the others tits. I asked him "So, didn't you recognise me?". Ha ha ha. kekeke. Ick. Yes, I am hilarious. *cough*.
My workmates gave me an update on the cab driver from last night. He was asking a lot of questions about me after I left. What was my name? Where do I work? Etc etc. The last girl he dropped off apparently couldn't get out of the cab for about five minutes because he wouldn't stop talking to her. I certainly do not want to run into that cab driver again. Ick. I hate to imagine what fate a girl who had drunk a lot would be in if she jumped in his cab. Because of this, I am almost tempted to call the cab company to at least make them aware of the behaviour of this guy. I don't know !?
Today was my last day at work, and I am quite disappointed that it did not end particularly positively. I started work at 730am and finally finished up at 6pm. The amount of snide comments and nastiness that I witnessed - some of which were aimed at me - was quite a shock, and totally unexpected. Anyhoos, the experience has left me quite deflated, so that's about it for today. The only other thing I did today was call the cab company to at least make them aware of their driver. I have booked a cab at 5am tomorrow morning to take me to the airport, I hope he doesn't come and try to pick me up. Ick.