Melbourne – Page 3 – Feather Stitching

Today I got my ‘big boss’ to sign off on my application form, and I faxed it along with my CV and cover letter and applied for the job in Sydney … OMG, now I’m starting to freak out!! If I have to interview for the job I’d better start applying for more housesitting jobs in Melbourne, ‘cos I’m useless at them … but if by any freak event they just decide I’m the best candidate and offer it to me outright, I’m all set haha. Apparently they had two other applications received by the deadline, but they were considering extending the timeframe a bit longer – which to me means they weren’t too thrilled with the candidates concerned for whatever reason. Also, apparently, the boss in Sydney was speaking to one of our Supervisors asking why no-one from Melbourne had applied for the job, which is quite interesting – it seems that Melbourne Hotline have got the best reputation across all three call centres for knowledge and expertise etc (and some staff members will actually call us directly because they don’t want to speak to the other sites hmmm). Anyway, all-in-all, the boss in Sydney is going to try to let me know an update by the end of this week, or on Monday next week – whether that means an interview time, or something else, I’ll just have to wait and see.

The awful thing is that this has all been so rushed, and with the hours I’m working and the time difference, I haven’t even had chance to discuss any of this with Mum – she’s read all about this new adventure at the same time as everyone else! Sorry Mum!!

Of course, all I could think of on the drive home tonight was that I’d have to start making a list of all the things I’d need to take with me in the car, if I moved to Sydney for the year … forget about bedding, and all those important and critical things, the list that was being created in my mind was all the stitching goodies haha. Even though I’m not stitching much at the moment, it’s still at the forefront of my mind! LOL. I’ll only be taking with me pretty much what I’ve been housesitting with -the storage unit is too well packed to get much of it out, although my computer printer and stitching stash, along with sewing machine, are nicely accessible and definitely compulsory packing items. I think I’ll also be trying hard to reach back into the unit to get my hands on my floor model Ott-Lite. Anyway, I might be counting my chickens before they’re hatched, so I shouldn’t start getting my hopes up …

On to a totally different story … here are some of the photos I took yesterday at the Australian Garden display – there are a couple of ‘overall garden’ photos, as well as some close-ups of some of the Australian native plants that Iliked.

Abbey, from NCIS, would love these plants – lovely black flowers!! 😉

“Matted bush-pea”

“Tiny Thomasia”

Native orchids

I love this display, it’s quite artistic and funky … I DON’T like those webby things, though! 😛

And it’s amazing what you can find among the flowers when you have your head down

And on that note, I’ll call it a night … 🙂

Rotation … again … and a decision made …

2 October, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Thanks for the positive feedback about my rotation – in fact it looks more complex than it actually is … essentially it’s just a rotation with 6 projects on the go at any one time, and rather than having a measured period of time per slot (ie 10 hours or one week per slot), I’ve given myself project deadlines to complete before I move on to the next project in the rotation. Basically the slots will be:

Commitment stitching (until all 3 item are completed)
Snapperville – Bent Creek; then Stitching Leporello (Chatelaine)
The Drawn Thread – It’s Halloween, then Autumn Arbor, then Garden Recipe – then Victoria Sampler’s Crimson Fire Sampler
CA Wells – Sailor’s Valentine, then Cottage Etui, then Pyramid Etui
Lanarte – Sea Life
Free choice

The next few projects that will be added as time goes by are – Blessed with Happiness box (The Cat’s Whiskers), Blueberries (LHN/CC thread pack), My Treasures Workstation (Judy Odell), plus a myriad of others, all vying for attention. There are many ‘smaller’ projects that will slot in very nicely into the “free choice” spot, as they’ll only take a couple of nights of stitching to get each one finished (such as Xmas ornies etc).

As for right now, I put one whole hour’s stitching into the dratted Winnie the Pooh bookmark tonight – it’s the first time I’ve actually brought my stitching out while staying at Ali’s, and I can’t say I was particularly productive, but it was nice to get the frame out and give it a go!

I actually had a pretty rough night’s sleep last night and didn’t feel too perky when I finally emerged from the bedcovers. I was cheered up pretty quickly, though, by a visit out to see Lisa to take her house keys back … and I was spoilt to death by being taken out to lunch to an awesome beach-side cafe at Parkdale (I would definitely recommend that to anyone in Melbourne!), as well as being given a really sweet tote bag from Harrod’s, and another wee black bag from Hong Kong – wow! Gifts are always lovely purely because of the sentiments behind them, but these are super useful! 😀

After we had lunch I decided to head out to the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens, and walked around the Australian Garden, which is full of Australian native plants. There isn’t as much to see and do as there was at the other gardens I’ve recently been to at Arthur’s Seat etc, but it was lovely to spend an hour walking around and seeing some native species I hadn’t seen before. It was also lovely to see loads of Superb Fairy Wren birds flitting around among the ground cover – I just adore the colourings of the male bird, the bright blue is, indeed, “superb”! 😉

After wandering around the gardens, I headed back to Seaford and picked up a healthy dinner option – fresh Mediterranean salad (mixed lettuce leaves, with crumbled feta and sundried tomato dressing), a bunch of fresh asparagus spears (yummo!), and a piece of fresh salmon fillet. All I had to do when I got home was to crack open the bottle of Chardonnay I also picked up, nuke the salmon and asparagus spears for 3 minutes in the microwave, and pile everything on a plate … it was absolutely divine! Of course, the added company of Ali chatting to me during getting everything ready was an added bonus! 😀

I’ve been chatting to a few people at work about the option of applying for the job in Sydney, and the consensus is that I should go for it! I wanted to chat to Ali especially to get her feedback – even though I’m only just starting to find my feet socially here in Melbourne after being here for 4 years, it’s a damned good opportunity to give it a try. The salary is about $7,000-$10,000 more than my base salary here, although with the shift allowances it would even up a bit overall. I’m currently on a level 5 salary band, and the training salary is level 8 for the first 3 months, then it goes up to a level 9 (which is basically above our Supervisors in Reservations). Anyway, it’s only for 12 months, and it would be fantastic experience – and it seems there’s no time like the present, since all my things are in storage! So, basically, I’m going to “go for it” … that’s not to say I’ll actually get the job, but I won’t get it if I don’t officially apply!

Crikey, I’ve just seen the time … I’d better hurry up and call it a night, as I’m on earlier shifts this week, and the traffic is horrendous so I’ll need to leave early and allow about 1 1/2 hours driving time ho-hum. I have 2 hours overtime after work tomorrow, so that will at least see me leaving to come home outside peak time, which is great! 🙂

I’m going to call the boss in Sydney tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll have an update by the next time I jump online … I’ll also try to remember to post some piccies of the Australian Garden too 🙂

Melbourne, Travel

Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

My next stop on my day out was Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens – I was getting peckish at this point, though, so opted to sit and have my own version of a Devonshire Tea (with coffee instead of tea) … the scones were delicious! And it gave me chance to chill out and relax while waiting for a schoolbus of noisy teenage school kids to leave – it’s amazing the peaceful hush that came over the gardens once they’d gone! 😉

There isn’t as much to see in these gardens as with The Enchanted Maze Garden, but it’s still a lovely garden to stroll around. They have a “Great Gnome Hunt” for kids, where they have to find the gnomes with red name tags somewhere in the gardens … a great way to keep them amused.

Once again, the gardens will look totally different when the summer flowers are in bloom – I can’t wait to see the Circular Rose Maze when the roses are out, as they just look like a garden of twigs right now! It didn’t stop me from taking squillions of photos, though, focusing on the different types of flowers that were in bloom, as well as a few of the gardens themselves.

There were lovely spots in the garden where you could sit down and while away the hours in abject peace and serenity – there were some gorgeous little nooks where I could easily have curled up with a book without a care in the world 🙂

It was lovely to see some of the spring blossoms starting to arrive on the trees, and also to see some spring bulbs in flower – I was especially thrilled to see bluebells popping up near the lily pond … they always remind me of England, walking through the local woods near home (one of the few memories I do have of my childhood).

I took a few photos of the lavender garden – there seem to be quite a few new plants, so it wasn’t as spectacular as it will be when they’re more established, but it was still lovely to walk through the garden, as they have it set out as a small maze. I’ve only chosen a couple of photos from the dozens I did take, but no doubt will use a couple in upcoming Photo Hunts (I have one of a bee resting on a lavender flower that I really love … but you’ll have to wait for that one haha).

So, all-in-all, a wonderful outing – I finished off by driving as far as Sorrento afterwards, although it was getting late in the day so I didn’t have time to look around. Next time I’ll spend a day on its own perhaps exploring that part of the world, and maybe taking a return trip to Queenscliff on the ferry as well (weather permitting, seeing as I get terribly seasick!).

Anyway, this definitely won’t be the last time I visit these gardens – I’d love to take Mum around them as well next time she’s over (make sure you bring your walking shoes Ma!).

Rightio, time to sign off and think about getting ready for work again … fingers crossed when I return home tomorrow after my nightshift I won’t have cat sick to worry about! Mind you, at least this kitty is a friendly old thing – Ally is an 11 year old tortoiseshell moggie, and definitely very laid back and relaxed … that’s a nice change! 😉

Can’t guarantee to show any stitching progress for a week or two … although I do hope to get two small pieces finished while I’m here (one revolting bit of stitching on plastic canvas, and a Winnie the Pooh bookmark – for those of you who’ve been reading my blog since the start you might remember I was ‘cheated’ into doing some stitching for a work colleague … well, these are the pieces, and I still haven’t stitched them – but this is the girl I’m housesitting for at the moment, so I thought it would be great if I could get them done in time to leave them here). I’m also really REALLY itching to start Snapperville, and it’s taking all my resolve not to pick it up and start it yet … so I may just end up caving in and treating myself and starting that one real soon 😀

I hope everyone is doing well, out there in blogland – hopefully I’ll get chance to get online again soon to catch up on some blog reading before I lose my access again. I have to say, though, here were 1200+ unread feeds sitting in there, so it is definitely not going to be a ‘small task’! 😉

Melbourne, Travel

The Enchanted Maze Garden

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

My first garden stop was to The Enchanted Maze Garden – this would be a fun place to take your kids on a nice day … there’s something there to please both adults and children alike. When walking through the garden entrance gate, one of the first things you see sticking up out of the main maze is this wee fella … and there’s a quirky tone like this throughout the entire garden.

There are different ‘theme’ gardens – for example the “Tile Garden”, which has a beautiful magnolia tree surrounded by pieces of tiled artwork planted throughout the garden plot … the “Enchanted Garden” has whimsical fairies etc dotted around … and the succulent garden is gorgeous (just love those terracotta pots) … and the “Christmas Garden” has a topiary arrangement of reindeer and a sleigh.

There is a mix of different styles of artwork and sculpture throughout the gardens (you can click here to find out more about the artists and their work – and more abou the gardens themselves of course) – I especially loved the marble sculptures near the pond. Unfortunately it was the wrong time of year to go there, as the gardens in that area are bare … it will be superb in summer when the flowers are in bloom, and I’ll definitely be taking another trip out there later.

This was one of my favourite places in the whole garden – I just love this sculpture! It was so incredibly peaceful standing and looking at it, listening to the water running … ah, bliss!! 😀

There are a number of different mazes – there is a brick maze where you follow the brick path (no chance of getting lost here, as the maze is at ground level!), a children’s maze where each corner is set aside for different settings (such as dinosaurs, jungle, beach), a kid’s playground with three separate brain teaser mazes (loved the tyre one below), as well as the more traditional large hedge maze (which I have to admit I’m not a great fan of, so I didn’t go in).

There is also a tiny wee petting zoo for the kiddies (with a sheep, goat, chickens, and ducks) … and a sculpture walk through the bush, where the main focus is on the artwork by Ken Blum – those carvings of aboriginal people are stunning! To top it all off, you are surrounded by the peace of the bush, with lots of native birds flying overhead … I managed to recognise a few, but there were loads I didn’t know.

Here’s one more sculpture that I really love … and very unique to Australia, I guess … the Swagman (OK, altogether now … “Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda ……..) 😀

At the end of your time here you can buy souvenirs or lollies from the gift shop, or have a bit to eat … but I had things to do and places to see, so I just hit the road and went off to the next gardens on my list – Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens!

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, Quilting, Travel

A couple of VERY picture heavy posts coming up!!!

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I’m back briefly for a two-week stint on the internet, before losing it again for possibly a full month … I wish I could say I’ve been spending my time offline stitching my little heart out, but the truth of the matter is I’ve hardly touched a needle the whole time … I’ve had my nose in a book instead, and finally read Diana Gabaldon’s latest novel “A Breath of Fire & Ashes”. All I can say is “wow!” – over 900 pages, and once you get into it you just can’t put it down!!! Those novels would have to be some of my all-time favourite books – and every single one has had me hooked and enthralled through every single page! Next up I’ve borrowed “The Kite Runner to read, which apparently is supposed to be exceptional – everyone I’ve spoken to so far has raved about it, so I thought I’d find out what all the fuss is about … 😉

Anyway, I can say that I have done some sort of stitching, although it’s not embroidery … I finally hand-stitched all the binding onto my Quilt UFO – this would have to be about 8-10 years old, and it’s a great feeling to finally get it finished. One of the Supervisors at work has offered to buy it from me, as I wasn’t too sure what to do with it now it’s all finished, so I’ll probably take her up on her offer – even if I just get $20 for it. I need to get it drycleaned first, though, to get rid of both the old musty smell and the wrinkles 😉

As to what else I’ve been up to … there have been some hiccups with my housesitting, which I won’t go into in huge detail, but it’s started me thinking about giving it up and looking for my own place in November. Daniel came home from overseas a day early, when I was in the middle of packing up … I got a call at 7pm (on a 6pm shift) to say they were at home and basically wanted to get into their own bed – having no spare room, they stayed at his parents place overnight and kept saying “how early can we come over?” so I felt really uncomfortable, I ended up finishing my packing after work at 2am and doing the last lot of cleaning, then going back to work at 5am to pick up a key from my pal a day early … she wasn’t expecting me turning up at work, of course, and let’s just say I had a frosty reception. Made me realise how much I rely on her for my ‘inbetween’ times of housesitting, and I think it would be better to call it quits (mind you, I did get an apology from Daniel when I saw him next.) It would be perfect if I could get something for 2-3 months over Christmas, but I guess that’s not going to happen, so decisions need to be made ho-hum 😦

While I had my days off, though, I made a concerted effort to get out and see some more of the Mornington Peninsula – I headed out for a drive to Arthur’s Seat to take in the views, then spent time in both The Enchanted Maze Garden and Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens, before taking a quick drive out to Sorrento and back home. It was a wonderful day out, and even though most of the garden wasn’t in bloom yet, it was a really pleasant way to spend the day. I’ll definitely have to go back again when the flowers are out, as the gardens will take on a whole different personality again 🙂

Here are some shots of the views from Arthur’s Seat … there’s usually a chairlift operating to the summit, but it’s closed during winter, so I just drove up to the top instead 🙂

The next couple of posts will be dedicated to both of the individual gardens I went to, and they’ll be pretty chocka full of photos – I took oodles more as well, and in fact went a bit snap happy overall haha.

In the meantime I’ll close this post with photos of some of the colourful beach huts on the beaches of the Mornington Peninsula – I just adore their bright colours, and I’ve been dying to take some photos of them forever. I still want to head out to Brighton beach at some stage and take photos of those ones too, as they’re the most famous ones in Melbourne, I think (there’s a great shot here – love it!). Here are a few from Dromana anyway …

Rightio, while my next lot of photos are loading up into Webshots, I’m off to clean up cat sick … that was what greeted me on my first ‘morning’ here in Edithvale – I woke up after my nightshift to find a pile of cat sick on the lounge carpet and floorboards … there’d better be some rubber gloves somewhere, that’s all I can say!!! Let’s just hope I’m not like I normally am … I often join in in sympathy at the sound and smell of sick … yukky!! 😦

Melbourne

McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park

18 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I keep forgetting to post my piccies from my afternoon’s excursion in Frankston’s McClelland Gallery & Sculpture Park about three weeks ago (I’ve had the photos uploaded and this sitting as a draft fora while) … I have to be honest I’m a very boring and traditional person where sculpture is concerned, and I obviously don’t have a contemporary artist’s bone in my body, ‘cos some of the stuff on display I found just plain ‘bizarre’ and definitely not ‘my’ idea of art. But I know the saying ‘each to their own’, and some of you may like some of these pieces, so I thought I’d share. If you are interested and want to see some more, you can check out their website via the link above, and they have a small slideshow happening on the home page covering some more of the pieces that I didn’t bother including below.

First up are a couple that I have to admit I really like (and I absolutely ADORE the large bronze male sculpture – he’s huge, and very very detailed – I just love him!):

This isn’t the best photo, with all the background clutter, but I wanted to show you the scale of him compared to my wee feathered friend in the foreground … in fact this duck must’ve realised I was a kindred spirit, as he came up onto land and followed me halfway round the lake quacking his little heart out, before he finally gave up and headed back into the water, bless him 😀

Here he is in a bit more detail

Now we move to the more ‘interesting’ exhibits – I like this one just because it stands out so much in the parkland with its bright whiteness, but still very bizarre … like a pile of huge larvae!

Ever wanted to know what to do with your old electric frying pan lids? Well, now you know …

I’m sorry, but this one just reminds me of someone’s intestines on display …

And this is just plain “what the?” to me … barbed wire shaped into a square … sorry, but it just does nothing for me (my apologies to the artist concerned)

In any case it’s a nice park to walk around – although there are warning signs for summer saying to be wary of snakes, so I guess I’ll never get Mum in there to look around (I have to admit, I was freaked out enough on my own seeing that sign even in the middle of winter!!).

I’ll finish with one more piece that I DO like … there are three pieces that are more along the line of the Greek sculptures … much more down my alley!! Here’s just one of them for you 😉

A more ‘general’ update on what’s happening around here will follow some time over the weekend … I’m not really in a blogging mood (and haven’t been for the last few weeks), but I’ll try to get something together over the next few days …

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne

Quick drive-by

8 August, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

That seems to be all I do these days … pop on here for a quick update then sod off again for days on end!

Thanks for all the comments about my resident fur-monster. In fact he’s sitting right outside the computer room door meeowing his head off as I type this … I used to let him in, but he started hissing when I’d move the mouse etc, so I turfed him out, and I’ve kept him out ever since. I have to admit I’ve started using the water pistol on occasion, and it seems to be working a bit. He was trying to get on me while I was stitching last night (that’s a miracle in itself these days!!), and had his paws/claws digging into my shoulder … when I went to move his paws, his ears flattened back and the hissing started – well, he moved pretty damned quickly when the water pistol was picked up! He doesn’t seem to hold grudges, though, and came back again 5 minutes later to get my attention. He didn’t try to climb up, though, and just sat next to me so we spent a bit of time in civil peace 🙂

I’m still considering moving into a new place in November/December – but then again it depends on how I go with the housesitting over the next 3 months before I make my big decision. I’m thinking, though, of moving to somewhere like Mordialloc which is a bit further out of town but close to the beach again – rent is a bit cheaper, and my down time will still be in nice surroundings … food for thought, anyway …

Seeing as I still don’t have any stitching piccies etc to share, here are a few I took on my walk up Frankston beach in the freezing cold just over a week ago – don’t let the sunny sky fool you, it was only just starting to clear up, and the wind was strong and icy! I love the fishermen at the end of the pier in their winter gear 😀

Here was a bit of the local flora from my wander back to the car via the canal walkway:

Next time I’ll post some piccies of an sculpture park I went to later that same day … it’ll be some time before I post a progress piccie, so this’ll have to do for now 😛

OK, it’s time to head back to the lounge to see if Sean is going to play nice tonight – he’s in an extremely smoochy mood tonight and has hardly left me alone for 2 seconds … it’ll be interesting to see if he stays that way for the next hour while I sit and stitch and watch TV (crikey, that really IS a miracle, two stitching nights in one week, what IS the world coming to?? haha) 😉

Melbourne

Two sleeps left …

30 May, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

… and tonight Mum and I are having ‘time out’ 🙂 I knew today would be a write-off anyway due to my shift times, so we’ve reheated a couple of ‘mystery meals’ from the freezer LOL, and we’re finishing off by drinking red wine, and polishing off her birthday chocolate mud cake while watching House … such simple and enjoyable decadence! 😉 Mind you, it’s so cold in here tonight I’m personally sitting here in my work clothes, with my full-length dressing gown on, topped off with a warm scarf round my neck … I’m also getting very very tempted to go and drag out a winter hat as well, seeing as they haven’t been packed yet LOL.

I was chatting to Mum this morning about everything that has happened over the last six months or so … and that it’s lucky I’m such a strong person. We both agreed that really for anyone who had a less robust personality, it really could have different results. We commented that this sort of stuff is the sort that could send people suicidal – perhaps it sounds extreme, but the continued pile of negative issues that have happened really could have a lot worse effect on someone else and enough to send them ‘over the edge’. Mum reckons I take after her, being a tough cookie and battler herself … I’d have to agree! 😉

I noticed today that I’m still the only car parking in our street median strip … the 2nd night after the road works behind the building I noticed a few more cars parked alongside me – but when we returned to the car later in the day their windscreens had little additions on them … parking tickets under the wipers – all the cars except mine, of course, as I have that little piece of paper power sitting on my dashboard … bless you, Mr C! 😉

I’ve managed to get tomorrow off work, which is sooooo awesome, I’m really and truly thrilled, after last night’s fiasco with the car. It means we should be able to finish off everything planned, and even might get chance to pop out shopping in the late afternoon. I’ve found out through work I can get a salary sacrifice option for a laptop from Harvey Norman stores, which means I could spread the payments out over 3-6 months instead of having to save up the cash in advance … which means I have the potential to get an Unwired internet connection sooner rather than later … the sales guy I spoke to on the phone yesterday is suggesting I look at the Toshiba A200/K00 instead of the HP I wanted, so it will be interesting to see them both and work out what the repayments will be to see if it will be viable. No guarantees it will happen, but it’s worth checking out the options just in case … I might have to check out salary sacrifice options with cars as well, thanks Tannia – hadn’t thought about that! 😀

Rightio, time to get off here … I’m struggling to keep my eyes open, so time to call it a night me thinks!

Melbourne

Ding ding ding – Round 1 goes to Shackles in the blue corner!

24 May, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Today I was on the opposite end of a complaint call … geez it felt good! haha. By 2.40pm Mr Councilman still hadn’t phoned me back, and I had to leave home to head to work before 3pm, so I called them back … the operator tried reaching Mr C, only to apparently have him start screaming at her and saying he’d told me he’d call me back. My response was that I would no longer be on the home number, could you please give him my work number, but that wasn’t an option as apparently after abusing her, he’d hung up, and he was on the road. No problem, I said, in that case can you give me HIS direct number and I’ll call HIM, and if he wants to start abusing me he’s picked the wrong customer. I think she was a bit scared of the repercussions, but she gave his mobile number to me quite happily in fact and asked if I could just not call him straightaway. I was happy to agree, and when I hadn’t heard from him by 4.30pm, I called his mobile … and the fun began!

He was confused why I was calling from work and no longer on my home number … um, because I’m starting my night shift now, as I told you this morning on the phone. Oh, and what time are you getting home? Just after 1am, I reply, would likely be the earliest. Oh … and where are you going to park? Well, Mr C that is the precise reason why I called this morning … and I must apologise because I must have accidentally slipped into speaking in Swahili, as you obviously didn’t understand a word of what I said to you this morning … I honestly thought it was English, but I must have been mistaken … my sincere apologies, what a terrible oversight!

Anyway, after a rather lengthy discussion we confirmed that what I was requesting was to have the option to park on the medium strip without getting towed or receiving a ticket from their parking officers … oh, he says, that’s not really my area, so I can’t help you … at this point the fuse on the Shackles time-bomb is having the match brought up to it, ready to commence burning … Well, perhaps, Mr C you could have told me that when I first spoke to you this morning at 10.30am – we have now wasted an entire day, I am at work, and I have no further avenues to go to tonight to have this resolved. Quite frankly that’s appalling! I reiterate I’m not happy that I’m dragged out of bed by one of your workers, with no advance notice, to be told I have to move my car out into the street, and having to possibly walk up to 3 blocks in the wee small hours of the morning as a single female – my personal safety is being put at risk, and it’s up to you to give me an alternative, seeing as you’ve removed my private parking area with no warning. When he argued a bit, I said it was fine, I was more than happy for them to provide me with a taxi to and from work so I could travel home in safety – I dunno why, but he said that wasn’t an option 😉

I then said, so give me an alternative solution … his answer was that if they let me park on the median strip, they’d start getting complaint calls from people that I’m parking there. My response, in actual fact you’re receiving a complaint call right now from a customer, and you should be dealing with it, I don’t give a damn about future people complaining! Eventually he said he’d have to check a few things out, and he’d give me a call back …

When he called back an hour later, he had the gall to say to me he’d checked and there was no record of works being done out here, as if I was imagining things. Can you see that fuse moving fast along the wire now? Oh yeah, someone just poured kerosene on the flame to speed things up … Rightio, Mr C, if you like I can bring you in bl**dy photos of the imaginary road works – I most definitely didn’t imagine the great big pile of rubble now sitting in the car park of our property, along with the cordoning off tape, and the driveway all dug up, not to mention the signposts out in the street saying “road works in side road” … quite frankly, Mr C, now you’re getting downright bl**dy ridiculous!!

Luckily he eventually realised he’d met his match for the evening, and fixed the situation by finally asking what my car rego/make/model etc was and said I could park on the median strip for tonight only, and we’d have to reassess the situation tomorrow … thank you Mr C, it’s much appreciated. And if I don’t get approval for the next two nights, expect the “look” in person, ‘cos I’m coming down to visit!!!

I have to say I’m usually a pretty even-tempered person, but when I lose my rag, I seriously lose it!! And I normally have a valid reason for losing my temper. I couldn’t believe it when he implied that there no works being done … bureaucratic moron!!

Phew … vent over and done with!! Now for Mr C’s sake he’d better hope that I don’t have a ticket or, especially, that my car hasn’t been towed in the morning … 😉

And on that note, I think I’m off to bed 😉

Gifts TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, RAK Registry

RAK’s everywhere!!

30 April, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Aha, the mystery is solved … Carol, you were right in your comment, the parcel sitting in my PO Box was indeed a wonderful RAK from Deb. Look at this load of goodies, isn’t it awesome? There are some fun friendship sayings in one chart, and some great tassel ideas in the other one, and threads and beads are always handy (love the lemon colour, it’s very very pretty). I really do especially love the little notepad and teabag holder in the blues and lemons – aren’t they just darling? Thanks so much Deb, you’re a real sweetheart 😀

When I said RAK’s were everywhere, it was a true statement … I also had a mystery gift in my email Inbox today as well. When I say mystery gift, I mean the actual sweet soul who has organised this is a mystery – the actual gift isn’t a mystery, but it’s a wonderful treat that I can’t wait to ‘use’. I received a Bill Bryson book from Audible, entitled “The Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kit” – woohoo! It just says “from a Friend” in thanks for my RAK to them … but I’ve done a few RAK’s just lately, so I’m not entirely sure who it is! Whoever you are, thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart – I’ll be having a few giggles over the next few days while I sit and listen to it 😀 And if anyone wants to have a sneak preview of his book “Down Under” (also published under the name of “A Sunburned Country”), you can click here to read one of the chapters … (it took a short time to load on my PC)

Anyway, another round of thanks again to both Deb and my mystery RAK’er, you’ve made my day!

Talking about RAK’s I wonder if anyone has any suggestions for my RAK Registry blog. A couple of people would like to see more interaction on the blog, with space to post about RAK’s sent and received, as well as one person that would like updates on new members joining etc. I’m just wondering what the best way of going about this is … you see, I’d prefer to leave the blog contents as ‘static’, ie the birthday list, and the individual wishlists, and wonder whether to just set up the blog with “pages” with tabs at the top with each topic, then use the ‘main’ part of the blog for individuals to post to, or maybe using a ‘shoutbox’ … but perhaps there’s a better way to go about it? It’s easy enough to show those that have been ‘new additions’, as I can send an email to everyone, say monthly, with new blogs, as well as adding **NEW** after the details on the blog itself. Anyway, if anyone has any good suggestions about how people could interact more on it, I’d love to hear them 😀

Even without the wonderful contents of both my mailboxes, today was a pretty good day all-in-all. I ended up doing 4 1/2 hours overtime today, as it took a while to finish one call with two round-the-world tickets they wanted booking. I can’t remember the last time I did actual ‘passenger’ calls … it might even be about a year ago! And I have to say I really enjoyed it – it was a lot less stressful than it was on the supervisor hotline yesterday, and I remembered how much enjoyment I get from helping the general public out. Some people get a bit frustrated with the ‘doddery’ passengers who’ve never travelled before and need more time and information, whereas they’re the calls I always used to enjoy the most. Those 4 1/2 hours sped past so quickly, it was amazing!

I decided to go into work today on the train, so that I could call into the city on the way home (I never ever drive into the city ‘cos I don’t know where I’m driving and I’m too wimpy to try dealing with trams and hook turns on my own! LOL) … my most essential piece of equipment fell to bits a week or so ago, and I’ve been devastated ever since! I tried finding a replacement at Target and other local shops, but couldn’t find one that I liked … so I went to Hudsons Coffee to get the same design as my old one – a bit pricey, but I like drinking out of it … here’s my new essential call centre office equipment … a thermal coffee mug! There’s nothing worse than getting stuck on a call and having your coffee go cold … especially when you just walk in the door and sign into your phone at 4.55am and your first call is a complaint that lasts 1/2 an hour … nope, gotta have that caffeine kick at 5am, or it’s just not cricket! 😉

Walking home from the tram stop I was reminded how small and insignificant, simple things in life can give enjoyment … walking down the street there were brown leaves scattered over the grass and pavements, and all of a sudden I walked past one bright red autumn leaf sitting like a jewel among the other dead leaves surrounding it – just something small, but it really made my heart and mind go ‘awww’ … yep, gotta appreciate those simple things … 🙂

Tonight I’m going to sit and catch up on more TV programs I’ve had taped during my early shifts last week (I’ve run out of blank tapes now, so I’d better get cracking …), then tomorrow I think I’ll ignore the housework for a day and have a full day stitching – ah, such decadence! After working 8 days straight, I’ve decided a bit of self-indulgence on my days off is warranted 😉