“Being an ice addict is like taking the Concorde to New Zealand. The trip is good, but you end up in a bad place.” Dave Hughes
Apologies to Justine – NZ is lovely. I’ve been there. Honest.
We just like to take the piss.
And no-one would believe that you could take the Concorde to Mt Druitt.
So they axed the ABC’s highest rating show. And Our Mighty Leader denies all responsibility. He didn’t axe the show, he just appointed an “independent auditor” who did it for him.
Like Mary-Helen, I don’t do memes. But I do love science, and I have a natural instinct to poke things to see if they will bite me. Funny I never liked Steve Irwin….
But this is interesting.
I went to the GP today to talk about vaccinations for Vietnam, and the fact that I have been experiencing gastric reflux for a few months now. He sent me for a blood test that required FOUR vials of blood. Four. I nearly passed out looking at the vials as the nurse kept grabbing more. I’m being tested for Hep resistance (I have a vague memory of having the shots for Hep A, but we need to be sure), he’s also testing my iron levels (I’m a vegetarian, I must be unhealthy), vitamin D (no idea what that is about), and some bug that causes evil stomach issues.
If they don’t find hep immunity I’ll need some shots, iron and vitamin D have unknown consequences, but if they don’t find the stomach bug then I might need to have an endoscopy. Not entirely sure what that entails, but it sounds unpleasant.
I applied for a part time job a few weeks ago – I just got an email to notify me that my application was unsuccessful. There were over 600 applications – and I’m sure some of them had actual qualifications that were related to the job, so I don’t feel too bad. I had help to write a kick ass resume, and I really feel that I gave it my best shot. I would have been great at the job, and it would have been a wonderful lifestyle change – but perhaps I need to go for the filthy lucre at this point, and the universe is TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING. Justine – the bottle of wine you gave me has come in handy.
My friends Patrick and Linda, and their kids Hugo and Lolita came for lunch today, and we had a very pleasant day. Hugo was great with the bunnies, and I think they liked him. THis is the first time that Monkey and Blueberry have met a young child, and they handled it very well – but I think that hugo is an exceptional child.
Dad paid for our tickets today. We are going. It’s written in stone, and paid for with blood sweat and tears. Not Marks, not mine, but my poor self funded retiree parents. I hope they know what this means to us – it’s no ordinary gift, it’s the gift of a lifetime, and we know exactly how lucky we are.
It’s been a very long time since I have been a traveller, and I hope that Mark and I travel well together. He’s pretty easy going (and easily led), so hopefully we’ll both be able to take small hurdles in our stride.
Tomorrow I am having my first lesson in Vietnamese – Alf is taking me to lunch. If this is going to be my last week at TRS, I am determined to get out of the office for lunch every day. Emma came today, and left with a very garish new toy – very similar in many ways to Kris‘ new toy. I’m very proud of both of them, yet have no desire to follow in their footsteps.
Apparently lots of people want to buy “my” company. They have until Friday to submit an “expression of interest”, and on Friday afternoon the suits will decide if we have to turn up for work on monday or not. I have to admit to a sudden urge to book a pedicure for 9am Monday morning, but I do recognise that it would be petty. They own me, I might as well be good humoured about it.
Oh, and by the way – we were making money. We have a loyal, blue chip customer base, and the best view of any AppleCentre in Australia. We have a world class service centre, and possible the most smart mouthed sales person this side of the equator. If you’re looking for a business to invest in, drop me a line….
The picture is of the century plant we bought in Bellingen, on the way home from Heather and Hamish’s wedding. I planted it in a terracotta tub on the front doorstep, and this is how it looked after I watered it a couple of days ago.
Tomorrow I have to get out of bed for the last (guaranteed) week of work. I don’t anticipate that it will be a fun week – we’ll have to wind up the last sales, contact all our fave customers, say goodbye, and generally wind things up. I’ll have to take my pot plant, my knitting magazines, and my teabags.
So I’ve had lots of support, and offers, and everything is going to be fine. Wonderful. Brilliant.
But in the meantime, I’ve another week to get through. Unless they keep us open for another week. Or another two. Or until Christmas…. I can’t stand the waiting.
I am slowly getting the hang of the image resizing stuff in Ecto. It wasn’t as idiot proof as I prefer a Mac app to be, but eventually my wild double clicking in random places paid off (yes, I am a self taught mac user), and I found the image settings. Would have been nice to have that documented chaps, but still….
Yesterday I worked, and apparently it’s ok to say why I’m looking for a job. My brothers company – the thing he has put his heart and soul into for nearly 20 years, is dying. It was a great company, with lovely customers, and a philosophy that was all about helping customer find the right solution for them, and making sure that everything worked together. Telling our customers and distributors these last few days has been awful. Many of them feel an attachment to the place that is rare in a business – Adam’s shop was more of a community than most apple shops, and its demise is a blow to more than just the staff. But for Adam, it must be horrible. He’s got a new baby arriving at the end of January, and I hope he soon sees the positives that are bound to happen because of this nasty and abrupt change. I understand a bit better now why he’s been more prickly than usual, and I probably could have been a little more considerate (though not knowing what was going on was a bit of a handicap).
I’ll be OK. Two competitors have already called to ask me to come in for an interview, and two of my customers want me to sell their products. One of my suppliers has fixed me up with a his brothers company too. And I have probably only told less than a dozen people about what is going on up till yesterday, when everyone at SSK was treated to my tale of woe.
Speaking of SSK, there was a bumper crowd yesterday! Kate modeled her finished Picovoli, Jussi looked splendid (her skirt had shiny bits, I was distracted). Emma showed off the beginnings of her wedding shawl, (so I retaliated by stuffing up my latest swallowtail and demanding that she fix it). Mary-Helen was weaving in ends for the cutest little cardi ever, and Sandra was the official photographer.
I gave Julie a lift home (it’s so nice to finally have a knitter in my suburb), and she showed me her very productive little garden, and even gave me a cucumber. Yum! There were other people there too, but I think they may be blogless. They still exist in the real world, but I can’t talk about them on the internet. Sandra is an exception, because there are pictures of her on M-H’s blog, so she almost crosses the divide.
I am testing a new blogging app. It was recommended on Gizmodo, or TUAW, or something. Thought I might give it a shot, see what all the fuss is about. Apparently you can edit offline (which will be handy in Vietnam), it has a spell checker (which the web interface lacks), and it allows for easy html editing (which is better than a slap in the belly with a dead something).
Tonight Mark and I saw most of “The Prestige”. If you saw the ads and weren’t enthralled, give it some more consideration. I love a movie where you never really know who the bad guy is….
And in other news, I am officially looking for another job. I am not sure whether the details of what forced this change are official yet, but suffice it to say that last week ended with a particularly low note, this week started poorly, and degenerated rapidly. Nobody’s fault, just a shit set of circumstances, and quite a lot of uncertainty leading up to Christmas.
And in good news.
The secretary for the anti-christ rang, and the boss wants me to come in for a job interview next week. So I have a few days to ponder the question – just precisely how weak am I?
I haven’t bought the toothpaste yet.
PS. Ecto didn’t work. I kinda liked it, and I have hopes for getting it to work in the future, but not this time.
And nothing to report. A very busy sales day, met a lovely chap who does voiceovers (it was spooky, a little like talking to the TV), and basically hurtled headlong towards Christmas.
I had a meeting with a business counsellor, and clarified my goals for the future. I want a happy and healthy family, and financial security. And I have the means to get it (the financial stuff at least). The future is bright.
Disco Knitter 