Another chilled out day, got up and dis half an hour on the Wii. We went over to North Sydney and went shopping in Chatswood Chase and Westfield. Had a salad for lunch over there. looking for bedding at moment, seen some stuff we like just need to find all of it in stock.
Came home and had a video call with Hazel. Also had a call with Chris and Hannah. We may stay in Adelaide a day longer after the weekend.
Not much to report, we've realised it's 3 weeks tomorrow when we fly back to blighty, don't know where the time has gone!
Monday 31 August 2009
Sunday 30 August 2009
Day Seventy Nine
A quiet day at home not doing much at all. We went to the shops to grab some lunch and food for rest of week. This afternoon we just hung out around the house, had a good video call with folks and this evening we have been vegging in front of TV.
We are both pretty tired, from events and late nights.
We are both pretty tired, from events and late nights.
Saturday 29 August 2009
Day Seventy Eight
**I've updated previous 2 days posts with photos**
A bit of a lay in after previous 2 days early starts. Bill and carol arrived to help us get our new bed upstairs/over the balcony. A bit of shoving got the mattress up the stairs, and then we winched the base over the balcony and thankfully it went in just (was worried about the angles myself). See pics below.
I then had to shoot off to coordinate one of the checkpoints in the trailwalker event. I had Kate, Bill and Carol come and visit to help out. There wasn't much for them ot do as all the volunteers had shown up, plus the event was winding down at that checkpoint by then.
We had our last team through at about 6pm, so I got the tear down underway and we were all done by 6.30. Had all our gear collected and I went back to event control.
Other checkpoints and the finish had more fun, it's been very windy here today and the marquees near the coast effectively took off, collapsed and have been written off.
I went to visit the finish after I was done at event control and there wasn't much left there. A shame really as walkers didn't get much fanfare as a result, but crowds were cheering everyone on.
Tomorrow is a catch up cal with family which will be good, not spoken tot hem for a week with all this running around. Plus we need to go and invest in queen size bedding for the new bed!
A bit of a lay in after previous 2 days early starts. Bill and carol arrived to help us get our new bed upstairs/over the balcony. A bit of shoving got the mattress up the stairs, and then we winched the base over the balcony and thankfully it went in just (was worried about the angles myself). See pics below.
I then had to shoot off to coordinate one of the checkpoints in the trailwalker event. I had Kate, Bill and Carol come and visit to help out. There wasn't much for them ot do as all the volunteers had shown up, plus the event was winding down at that checkpoint by then.
We had our last team through at about 6pm, so I got the tear down underway and we were all done by 6.30. Had all our gear collected and I went back to event control.
Other checkpoints and the finish had more fun, it's been very windy here today and the marquees near the coast effectively took off, collapsed and have been written off.
I went to visit the finish after I was done at event control and there wasn't much left there. A shame really as walkers didn't get much fanfare as a result, but crowds were cheering everyone on.
Tomorrow is a catch up cal with family which will be good, not spoken tot hem for a week with all this running around. Plus we need to go and invest in queen size bedding for the new bed!
Friday 28 August 2009
Day Seventy Seven
A slightly later start today, picked up another Oxfam person (also an ex UKer) from the Parkway Hotel and headed to our checkpoint (7) to start the build.
Our gear had already been delivered from Oxfam HQ and our power and lighting was in place.
The marquee contractors were late so that put us a bit behind, anyway they showed up and started their build. I'm intrigued to the visas some of their crew are on as hardly any of them could speak English so they cannot be on skilled migrant visas etc, guess I'll just have to wonder.
As marquees were finished, the IT team set up and I spent time wiring everything up to generator etc.
Had some lunch and spent rest of day getting everything ready for volunteer team who started showing up at about 3.30.
Got them all up and running and the first team of runners flew through at 17.40. You can track the event here
http://www2.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/nsw/results
checked in at next checkpoint a This is based on the system the event uses to track runners. After a certain time if they haven'tprocedure for searching for them kicks in.
Finished up at about 7pm, swung by the control centre briefly and came back to meet Kate in Willoughby.
I'll add more pics tomorrow when at home but in meantime for interest the photos here continue to be updated throughout the event...
http://www.flickr.com/groups/oxfamtrailwalkersydney2009/pool/
I was climbing up the start gantry you can see yesterday wiring up speakers...I was loving it!
Checkpoint 7 which I built today...
Our gear had already been delivered from Oxfam HQ and our power and lighting was in place.
The marquee contractors were late so that put us a bit behind, anyway they showed up and started their build. I'm intrigued to the visas some of their crew are on as hardly any of them could speak English so they cannot be on skilled migrant visas etc, guess I'll just have to wonder.
As marquees were finished, the IT team set up and I spent time wiring everything up to generator etc.
Had some lunch and spent rest of day getting everything ready for volunteer team who started showing up at about 3.30.
Got them all up and running and the first team of runners flew through at 17.40. You can track the event here
http://www2.oxfam.org.au/trailwalker/nsw/results
checked in at next checkpoint a This is based on the system the event uses to track runners. After a certain time if they haven'tprocedure for searching for them kicks in.
Finished up at about 7pm, swung by the control centre briefly and came back to meet Kate in Willoughby.
I'll add more pics tomorrow when at home but in meantime for interest the photos here continue to be updated throughout the event...
http://www.flickr.com/groups/oxfamtrailwalkersydney2009/pool/
I was climbing up the start gantry you can see yesterday wiring up speakers...I was loving it!
Checkpoint 7 which I built today...
Thursday 27 August 2009
Day Seventy Six
A very long day...
I was awake at 6am and out of the hotel by 7.20 and on my way to the start to build the infrastructure for Trailwalker event start. The start is in Brooklyn here
http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF-8&q=maps+brooklyn+nsw&ie=UTF8&split=0&ei=0GqWSofaD4z06gP0nY24CQ&ll=-33.548383,151.229661&spn=0.00321,0.004823&t=h&z=18
We effectively took over the car park with marquees and other stuff. I'll add pics here over weekend, the camera is buried in car at moment and it's too late to think about it.
We were running well to schedule until we had some problems with start gantry, a long story but sorted it eventually.
After lunch we drove south to French's Forest to build the event control. Basically fitting an office infrastructure in a scout hut in about 3 hours. It all went quite well.
Left there late and met Kate at Willoughby where we have had dinner and now we are heading home to sleep.
Our new bed was also delivered to Glebe today.
I'm knackered...
More tomorrow, I'm responsible for building checkpoint 7 here
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=davidson+park+nsw&sll=-33.548383,151.229661&sspn=0.00321,0.004823&ie=UTF8&ll=-33.769311,151.20374&spn=0.006404,0.009645&t=h&z=17
More marquees etc, although an earlier start at 9.30.
The Start...
I was awake at 6am and out of the hotel by 7.20 and on my way to the start to build the infrastructure for Trailwalker event start. The start is in Brooklyn here
http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF-8&q=maps+brooklyn+nsw&ie=UTF8&split=0&ei=0GqWSofaD4z06gP0nY24CQ&ll=-33.548383,151.229661&spn=0.00321,0.004823&t=h&z=18
We effectively took over the car park with marquees and other stuff. I'll add pics here over weekend, the camera is buried in car at moment and it's too late to think about it.
We were running well to schedule until we had some problems with start gantry, a long story but sorted it eventually.
After lunch we drove south to French's Forest to build the event control. Basically fitting an office infrastructure in a scout hut in about 3 hours. It all went quite well.
Left there late and met Kate at Willoughby where we have had dinner and now we are heading home to sleep.
Our new bed was also delivered to Glebe today.
I'm knackered...
More tomorrow, I'm responsible for building checkpoint 7 here
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=davidson+park+nsw&sll=-33.548383,151.229661&sspn=0.00321,0.004823&ie=UTF8&ll=-33.769311,151.20374&spn=0.006404,0.009645&t=h&z=17
More marquees etc, although an earlier start at 9.30.
The Start...
Day Seventy Five
A day mainly at home before heading into Oxfam office for pre event brief. Did a lot of running about in office for last minute stuff, had briefings etc and then drove north to the Bluegum hotels. Had a few drinks in bar and then hit the sack in readiness for events of Thursday.
Tuesday 25 August 2009
Day Seventy Four
Got up and hit the Wii for half hour, still trying to keep at it!
Had a light lunch and then in the afternoon I went to meet with a recruitment agent on market Street. Kate dropped me off. Meeting went very well. It came out of the exercise of mailing 34 agents last week.
Basically I think the agency was set up by Brits, the main contact is from England and the guy I met for 40 mins or so was from Scotland. He seemed very positive and we explored lots of avenues, form event management to telecoms. They started in telco sector so have lots of contacts.
They are now looking around for me, they know our plans for UK visit etc so will factor that in. came away feeling quite upbeat!
Had a lovely dinner at home and then watched a load of TV. Tuesdays are the best night for telly here it seems with back to back stuff all evening. Having said that as I sit here and type Kate is engrossed in some American girlie telly!
Tomorrow I start work on Trailwalker event, staying overnight further North and an early start for all day work on Thursday. There's unlikely to be a blog update tomorrow night as a result!
Had a light lunch and then in the afternoon I went to meet with a recruitment agent on market Street. Kate dropped me off. Meeting went very well. It came out of the exercise of mailing 34 agents last week.
Basically I think the agency was set up by Brits, the main contact is from England and the guy I met for 40 mins or so was from Scotland. He seemed very positive and we explored lots of avenues, form event management to telecoms. They started in telco sector so have lots of contacts.
They are now looking around for me, they know our plans for UK visit etc so will factor that in. came away feeling quite upbeat!
Had a lovely dinner at home and then watched a load of TV. Tuesdays are the best night for telly here it seems with back to back stuff all evening. Having said that as I sit here and type Kate is engrossed in some American girlie telly!
Tomorrow I start work on Trailwalker event, staying overnight further North and an early start for all day work on Thursday. There's unlikely to be a blog update tomorrow night as a result!
Monday 24 August 2009
Day Seventy Three
Oh before I forget
Come on England! Well done the Ashes boys!
A fairly quiet day today, just hanging around the house, doing soem job research and not much else.
We unpacked the last of the general boxes, so only 5 left but all full with CD's and DVDs awaiting shelves.
I put a hook up on the balconly so we can winch the bed over when it arrives Thursday, will do winching on Saturday I think.
Got a great delivery of update form folks today, great to read whats happening in blighty.
Tomorrow I meet a recruitment agent and we plan to cook lasagne for dinner!
Come on England! Well done the Ashes boys!
A fairly quiet day today, just hanging around the house, doing soem job research and not much else.
We unpacked the last of the general boxes, so only 5 left but all full with CD's and DVDs awaiting shelves.
I put a hook up on the balconly so we can winch the bed over when it arrives Thursday, will do winching on Saturday I think.
Got a great delivery of update form folks today, great to read whats happening in blighty.
Tomorrow I meet a recruitment agent and we plan to cook lasagne for dinner!
Sunday 23 August 2009
Day Seventy Two
A quiet day, got up late as I watched the ashes late. As I write this England are 5 wickets away from winning.
Went to Willoughby to watch the AFL, had a nice lunch in the sun in the garden. it's winter here but still perfectly warm enough to sit outside and eat.
Had a good Skype call with folks and then sister. Updated them with all the news.
As I say I'm watching cricket here, its 12.20am, i should go to bed soon but cricket is great!
Went to Willoughby to watch the AFL, had a nice lunch in the sun in the garden. it's winter here but still perfectly warm enough to sit outside and eat.
Had a good Skype call with folks and then sister. Updated them with all the news.
As I say I'm watching cricket here, its 12.20am, i should go to bed soon but cricket is great!
Saturday 22 August 2009
Day Seventy One
A day mainly around the house, we did a load of Wii Fit before going out to Glebe Markets and then Broadway shopping centre. Bought another lamp for the bedroom and a few bits for kitchen.
Came home and washed the car, watched the ashes highlights from yesterday and mostly this evening have been watching live action from day 3. looks like England have it. Might have to hang the George Cross flag out tomorrow!
Below is a picture I took of the power pole that can be seen from our kitchen. I thought it made an interesting pic.
Tomorrow is more shopping and watching AFL in Willoughby.
Came home and washed the car, watched the ashes highlights from yesterday and mostly this evening have been watching live action from day 3. looks like England have it. Might have to hang the George Cross flag out tomorrow!
Below is a picture I took of the power pole that can be seen from our kitchen. I thought it made an interesting pic.
Tomorrow is more shopping and watching AFL in Willoughby.
Friday 21 August 2009
Day Seventy
Oh the life of the unemployed....
We did a few things around the house before grabbing some lunch up at the AB. I then went into Oxfam to finish off a few bits that were outstanding. Kate did a few bits at the post office.
I came home and then we decided we should get out of the house this evening and ended up going to Luna Park. Hit a few rides, then had a drink and snack in the bar there before coming home. there's a few pics below.
Have a good weekend all!
We did a few things around the house before grabbing some lunch up at the AB. I then went into Oxfam to finish off a few bits that were outstanding. Kate did a few bits at the post office.
I came home and then we decided we should get out of the house this evening and ended up going to Luna Park. Hit a few rides, then had a drink and snack in the bar there before coming home. there's a few pics below.
Have a good weekend all!
Wednesday 19 August 2009
Day Sixty Nine
Thursday
We spent the day shopping, we went over to the north side and ended up in ChatswoodWestfield. Bought a few bits for the house, a decent chopping board and a few other things. Our main purchase was a new bed. Picked up a bargain, had a very persistent sales woman, I kept fending her off but she was playing hard ball, she wanted the sale. based on this I got her down, bottom line is after initial discounts we got a bed at a pretty good price. It should arrive next Thursday, we ten have the fun of getting the base over the balcony as I'm convinced it wont fit up the stairs!
We received a very welcome house warming card form Pru and Paul, thank you you two, we look forward to your arrival!
I found this article quite funny from a perspective of sitting through too many presentations in my past
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8207849.stm
I heard back from a few recruiters, one is putting my CV on some worldwide database, the other I have a meeting with next Tuesday afternoon.
As we were in the area we ended up grabbing dinner at Kate's folks as our planned dinner with the Newtown gang was postponed.
Lordy Friday tomorrow!
We spent the day shopping, we went over to the north side and ended up in ChatswoodWestfield. Bought a few bits for the house, a decent chopping board and a few other things. Our main purchase was a new bed. Picked up a bargain, had a very persistent sales woman, I kept fending her off but she was playing hard ball, she wanted the sale. based on this I got her down, bottom line is after initial discounts we got a bed at a pretty good price. It should arrive next Thursday, we ten have the fun of getting the base over the balcony as I'm convinced it wont fit up the stairs!
We received a very welcome house warming card form Pru and Paul, thank you you two, we look forward to your arrival!
I found this article quite funny from a perspective of sitting through too many presentations in my past
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8207849.stm
I heard back from a few recruiters, one is putting my CV on some worldwide database, the other I have a meeting with next Tuesday afternoon.
As we were in the area we ended up grabbing dinner at Kate's folks as our planned dinner with the Newtown gang was postponed.
Lordy Friday tomorrow!
Day Sixty Eight
Quick update today.
Kate was at work at her mums again today, I spent the morning getting recruitment agency contacts off monster.com.au. basically I started on their listings at A and worked through to G. this gave me 36 agencies to mail my CV too. 2 mails bounced and so far I have had one response and I'm going to meet them early next week.
Thanks to everyone else who has sent me leads, I will get back to you and them in due course.
Had a good Skype call with folks, quality was best yet.
Not much else to report today, tomorrow is more agency follow up and shopping and then dinner over in Newtown at Botany Bay hotel I think.
Kate was at work at her mums again today, I spent the morning getting recruitment agency contacts off monster.com.au. basically I started on their listings at A and worked through to G. this gave me 36 agencies to mail my CV too. 2 mails bounced and so far I have had one response and I'm going to meet them early next week.
Thanks to everyone else who has sent me leads, I will get back to you and them in due course.
Had a good Skype call with folks, quality was best yet.
Not much else to report today, tomorrow is more agency follow up and shopping and then dinner over in Newtown at Botany Bay hotel I think.
Tuesday 18 August 2009
Day Sixty Seven
A day spent at home blitzing our boxes mainly, I nipped to IKEA and back in under an hour to get a couple of cheap bookshelves and units. Seems we are keeping the Kamprand family in business at the moment. Box count now stands at 8 left (although 5 of those contain solely CDs and DVDs.
We are researching beds, we need a new one and then we will have a spare for our second bedroom. Funnily mattresses and bed seem really expensive in Oz compared to home, but if you shop around you can find a bargain. It was good to unpack some more personal stuff to make the place feel even more like home.
Had some dinner and Ive applied for a couple project management jobs tonight. new CV looks good after an editorial review by Kate.
Below is a few more furniture additions to our little house....
We are researching beds, we need a new one and then we will have a spare for our second bedroom. Funnily mattresses and bed seem really expensive in Oz compared to home, but if you shop around you can find a bargain. It was good to unpack some more personal stuff to make the place feel even more like home.
Had some dinner and Ive applied for a couple project management jobs tonight. new CV looks good after an editorial review by Kate.
Below is a few more furniture additions to our little house....
Monday 17 August 2009
Day Sixty Six
Clickety Clicks Sixty Six....
Got up and did some Wii Fit ;-).
Updated my CV a bit more and Kate reviewed it for me in the afternoon. We both got out of the house and had a quick bite to eat up the road in one of the cafes. I then jumped on tram and did an afternoon at Oxfam. Also attended the briefing for checkpoint coordinators.
Grabbed a load of volunteer shirts as i want to get Kate, Bill and carol involved on the day I'm coordinating.
Came home to a lovely dinner cooked by Kate, vegged in front of telly and that's it for today!
Oh and forgot to mention I bought tickets to see Pearl Jam in November the other day.
oh and this is very funny...
http://www.zapiks.com/megawoosh.html
Got up and did some Wii Fit ;-).
Updated my CV a bit more and Kate reviewed it for me in the afternoon. We both got out of the house and had a quick bite to eat up the road in one of the cafes. I then jumped on tram and did an afternoon at Oxfam. Also attended the briefing for checkpoint coordinators.
Grabbed a load of volunteer shirts as i want to get Kate, Bill and carol involved on the day I'm coordinating.
Came home to a lovely dinner cooked by Kate, vegged in front of telly and that's it for today!
Oh and forgot to mention I bought tickets to see Pearl Jam in November the other day.
oh and this is very funny...
http://www.zapiks.com/megawoosh.html
Sunday 16 August 2009
Day Sixty Five
We got up and set up the Wii fit, was good fun and we'll endeavour to keep it going. we then unpacked a few more boxes.
We wondered down to the fish markets, grabbed a bit to eat and then bought ourselves some Swordfish for dinner. was only £6 for two large pieces, its great to have such a good place within 10 minutes walk.
Was a great day weather wise, clear blue skies and up to 26 degrees.
Came back, unpacked even more, realised we transported a tonne of clothing across the world, ah well!
Had a good skype call with folks and then had dinner, now just chilling out.
Another week gone, we fly back to blighty 5 weeks on Tuesday!
Oh and Ive added a weather link on the right as well as Aussie national headlines link below too if anyone wants to keep up to date on whats happening here!
We wondered down to the fish markets, grabbed a bit to eat and then bought ourselves some Swordfish for dinner. was only £6 for two large pieces, its great to have such a good place within 10 minutes walk.
Was a great day weather wise, clear blue skies and up to 26 degrees.
Came back, unpacked even more, realised we transported a tonne of clothing across the world, ah well!
Had a good skype call with folks and then had dinner, now just chilling out.
Another week gone, we fly back to blighty 5 weeks on Tuesday!
Oh and Ive added a weather link on the right as well as Aussie national headlines link below too if anyone wants to keep up to date on whats happening here!
Saturday 15 August 2009
Day Sixty Four
A busy day for a Saturday, up and about and we headed over to Bill and Carols briefly. Kate's dad is a big fan of ironing, a result in my book, so we dropped off quite a bit of stuff from our boxes and current clothing for him to iron. He is dropping it back here tomorrow ;-).
I went to the hardware store and picked up a load of plugs to switch out the UK plugs on things to Aussie variety. Will make life easier, will still have some extension leads with UK plugs on to keep some stuff bilghty plugged. We then went to the Moore Park Supacentre to look at beds/mattresses and other stuff for flat. Had too much of a sales push by guy on bed shop trying to sell us stuff we legged it in the end.
We then went to Centennial Parklands and did 2 circuits on the bikes, seemed longer than last time but still another 5 miles cycled. We headed back to Glebe and then drove to the Olympic Park to watch Sydney Swans play Geelong. Was an exciting game, Sydney had won they would have made it into the finals, but alas they were just beaten at end. below are pics from stadium. It's well organised ( as to be expected from an Olympic village) with decent transport links etc. It didn't feel that big though.
I went to the hardware store and picked up a load of plugs to switch out the UK plugs on things to Aussie variety. Will make life easier, will still have some extension leads with UK plugs on to keep some stuff bilghty plugged. We then went to the Moore Park Supacentre to look at beds/mattresses and other stuff for flat. Had too much of a sales push by guy on bed shop trying to sell us stuff we legged it in the end.
We then went to Centennial Parklands and did 2 circuits on the bikes, seemed longer than last time but still another 5 miles cycled. We headed back to Glebe and then drove to the Olympic Park to watch Sydney Swans play Geelong. Was an exciting game, Sydney had won they would have made it into the finals, but alas they were just beaten at end. below are pics from stadium. It's well organised ( as to be expected from an Olympic village) with decent transport links etc. It didn't feel that big though.
Friday 14 August 2009
Day Sixty Three
A day spent at Oxfam, sorting out 30 mobile phones, updating them with new contacts etc etc. Seems I'm the communications man now.
Came home, did some shopping and then unpacked a few things, important things like the stereo etc!
Tomorrow we are going cycling and then football at Olympic stadium.
Quick update tonight I'm afraid.
Came home, did some shopping and then unpacked a few things, important things like the stereo etc!
Tomorrow we are going cycling and then football at Olympic stadium.
Quick update tonight I'm afraid.
Thursday 13 August 2009
Day Sixty Two
Another full on day at Oxfam, just a shame I'm not being paid!
Spent time sorting more stuff out, as you can see form pics theres quite a bit.
did a bit of shopping in town after that and then took a train over the harbour bridge to meet Kate for dinner at her folks. Commuting is the same the world over, everyone battling to get on trains. Anyhow the trip from Town Hall to Artamon across the bridge was col. Nice to see the city by night.
Had a Thai takeaway and watched some naff telly (the amazing race) before heading home.
Spent time sorting more stuff out, as you can see form pics theres quite a bit.
did a bit of shopping in town after that and then took a train over the harbour bridge to meet Kate for dinner at her folks. Commuting is the same the world over, everyone battling to get on trains. Anyhow the trip from Town Hall to Artamon across the bridge was col. Nice to see the city by night.
Had a Thai takeaway and watched some naff telly (the amazing race) before heading home.
Wednesday 12 August 2009
Day Sixty One
A busy day at Oxfam, in final days of prep with masses of packing for event checkpoints to be done, lifted a shed load of stuff around today. We have to get it all ready before Friday when it's shipped off to a holding area before delivery to site.
Came home (on the tram as I was knackered) and we had a really good session with the folks on Skype. RIP Voodoo, Skype is the way forwards, much better quality and holds its stream much better.
Not much doing since then, reading and TV cos we are both tired.
Back to Oxfam for me tomorrow and Kates last day at Glenwood.
Came home (on the tram as I was knackered) and we had a really good session with the folks on Skype. RIP Voodoo, Skype is the way forwards, much better quality and holds its stream much better.
Not much doing since then, reading and TV cos we are both tired.
Back to Oxfam for me tomorrow and Kates last day at Glenwood.
Tuesday 11 August 2009
Day Sixty
Our boxes arrived! All 23 intact, unopened, undamaged and free from any customs charges or any quarantine issues!
Have to start unpacking now.
Spent a lot of the day re-imaging the laptop, its now back working but Im sure theres something wrong in the background.
Kept an eye on jobs and worked on CV some more.
Tomorrow its back to Oxfam.
Weather here has gone bad, its quite windy, thundery and raining today.
Have to start unpacking now.
Spent a lot of the day re-imaging the laptop, its now back working but Im sure theres something wrong in the background.
Kept an eye on jobs and worked on CV some more.
Tomorrow its back to Oxfam.
Weather here has gone bad, its quite windy, thundery and raining today.
Monday 10 August 2009
Day Fifty Nine
Monday Monday
I spent the day revising my CV from scratch, still a bit more to do but I think it looks a lot better, my plan of attack is to focus on short term work between now and UK trip and longer term aspect of proper job for October when we fly back from UK. The latter will involve a concerted effort with recruitment agents over next couple of weeks.
I'll finish it off in morning.
Bigger news though, I was going to go to Oxfam tomorrow but I've put that off a day as our shipment arrives from the UK forst thing tomorrow. No customs charges or quarantine issues it seems, all those hours of careful packing and endless paperwork have paid off.
I wonder if it all made it intact!
I've added a few pics of place since we invested in some furniture which might be of interest. I'll nip back to Ikea tomorrow and pick up some CD shelves etc.
ps this borrowed laptop wont let me move pics to bottom of post, thats why they appear first with no explanation.
Sunday 9 August 2009
Day Fifty Eight
Today is Kates Mums birthday.
We headed over to Kates folks to open presents and do a video call with Chris and Hannah. Once that was done we drove over to Manly for dinner at the Whitewater restaurant Kate and I found last time we were there. Food was good but the service was a touch slow, but all in all a good day.
We went back to Willoughby and watched the AFL game, it is on in background as you can see from pics above.
Pics are from restaurant and the other ones are Kates dog 'Beau' and finally me and Beau chilling on the sofa, I think he is quite taken with me!
Day Fifty Seven
Busy busy day...
We got up and went to Broadway to do some shopping, hit the post office to send back all the replies to wedding invites in the UK in September we have received. We then dropped the stuff back in Glebe and drove to Chatwood shopping centre to buy Carol's birthday presents. Back in the car and to the fish markets to buy stuff for dinner.
Back to base and spent afternoon sorting out our lounge area, filing paperwork and I cabled to room so we could move computer to new desk etc. We planned what else we need to buy in way of furniture too.
We then had a video call with folks and then Bill and Carol arrived and spoke to my folks to. In meantime Kate and I were sorting out dinner, we've decided we have the worlds crappiest cooker in our house, but we'll have to make do with its quirkiness, seems to take forever to cook stuff and then will burn it not long after.
Had a good dinner after all and then went to bed.
We got up and went to Broadway to do some shopping, hit the post office to send back all the replies to wedding invites in the UK in September we have received. We then dropped the stuff back in Glebe and drove to Chatwood shopping centre to buy Carol's birthday presents. Back in the car and to the fish markets to buy stuff for dinner.
Back to base and spent afternoon sorting out our lounge area, filing paperwork and I cabled to room so we could move computer to new desk etc. We planned what else we need to buy in way of furniture too.
We then had a video call with folks and then Bill and Carol arrived and spoke to my folks to. In meantime Kate and I were sorting out dinner, we've decided we have the worlds crappiest cooker in our house, but we'll have to make do with its quirkiness, seems to take forever to cook stuff and then will burn it not long after.
Had a good dinner after all and then went to bed.
Friday 7 August 2009
Day Fifty Six
8 weeks then....
We went out and bought more furniture, this time a desk for the lounge so we can sort our paperwork out, have somewhere to put the (now broken until I fix it) laptop and printer and generally have somewhere to put some stuff when our shipment arrives (still no news on that).
The CD shelves I wanted were out of stock until next week.
Came home and put stuff together and then Kate went out and did some more shopping, I hung out here.
We grabbed some dinner and have just chilled out this evening.
Tomorrow we are sorting out more stuff around house, shopping and then have Bill and Carol over for a pre birthday dinner for Carol.
Weather report: Sunny everyday, although it got windy and briefly rained this evening.
Other bonus, DVDs I ordered dispatched by Amazon in UK on 4th August arrived today on standard post. Not only cheaper than buying in shops here but 5 day delivery is pretty damn good in my book.
Good weekend to you all...
We went out and bought more furniture, this time a desk for the lounge so we can sort our paperwork out, have somewhere to put the (now broken until I fix it) laptop and printer and generally have somewhere to put some stuff when our shipment arrives (still no news on that).
The CD shelves I wanted were out of stock until next week.
Came home and put stuff together and then Kate went out and did some more shopping, I hung out here.
We grabbed some dinner and have just chilled out this evening.
Tomorrow we are sorting out more stuff around house, shopping and then have Bill and Carol over for a pre birthday dinner for Carol.
Weather report: Sunny everyday, although it got windy and briefly rained this evening.
Other bonus, DVDs I ordered dispatched by Amazon in UK on 4th August arrived today on standard post. Not only cheaper than buying in shops here but 5 day delivery is pretty damn good in my book.
Good weekend to you all...
Thursday 6 August 2009
Day Fifty Five
An early start, was out doing site visits on the Trailwalker route, assisting on planning of where to site marquees and generators. I was in my element! Also was checking 3G coverage out in the bush.
Got home a bit earlier than planned and Mike and Kate were still here. they went off for lunch on the bikes and I tried to job search. Alas our trusty laptop seems to have gone to pot. I'm sure firefox did some dodgy update yesterday. I've had bluescreens, recoveries back to recovery points etc, anyway now it wont connect to t'internet. It says connection is fine, I know router is good as I can use it wirelessly with phone etc. Could be a rebuild job when our boxes arrive with discs in.
I'm using an Oxfam laptop to write this at mo, a very old and slow IBM thing.
Had dinner at Bill and Carols...
Tomorrow is a day off, furniture shopping in preparation for boxes arrival, need somewhere to unpack stuff.
I know I owe some people some email replies (Hannah & Chris, and John and John and a few others)will get round to it tomorrow I promise.
Got home a bit earlier than planned and Mike and Kate were still here. they went off for lunch on the bikes and I tried to job search. Alas our trusty laptop seems to have gone to pot. I'm sure firefox did some dodgy update yesterday. I've had bluescreens, recoveries back to recovery points etc, anyway now it wont connect to t'internet. It says connection is fine, I know router is good as I can use it wirelessly with phone etc. Could be a rebuild job when our boxes arrive with discs in.
I'm using an Oxfam laptop to write this at mo, a very old and slow IBM thing.
Had dinner at Bill and Carols...
Tomorrow is a day off, furniture shopping in preparation for boxes arrival, need somewhere to unpack stuff.
I know I owe some people some email replies (Hannah & Chris, and John and John and a few others)will get round to it tomorrow I promise.
Wednesday 5 August 2009
Day Fifty Four
Got up early and went to tyre place to get our puncture fixed, happily they managed to patch it up somehow rather than a whole new tyre. Cost 22 dollars versus 150 it would have cost for the new tyre option.
Went into Oxfam, reminded me a bit of work in someways, usual office nonsense and the IT people being very similar the world over in the way they deal with people.
Tomorrow I'm doing site visits for Oxfam for the event, testing 3G coverage out in the sticks, or perhaps I should say I'm going walkabout in the bush. Well its not quite that dramatic, its urban areas.
Had a quick video call with folks and browsed a few job websites.
that's all folks...
Went into Oxfam, reminded me a bit of work in someways, usual office nonsense and the IT people being very similar the world over in the way they deal with people.
Tomorrow I'm doing site visits for Oxfam for the event, testing 3G coverage out in the sticks, or perhaps I should say I'm going walkabout in the bush. Well its not quite that dramatic, its urban areas.
Had a quick video call with folks and browsed a few job websites.
that's all folks...
Tuesday 4 August 2009
Day Fifty Three
Short update today...
Spent the day at Oxfam, getting more entrenched in the event in 3 weeks, planned what I'm doing including building checkpoints, coordinating checkpoints and general logistics role.
Spent most of day allocating event equipment and distributing it ready for dispatch to site.
Grabbed some shopping on way home, had dinner and watched a bit of TV.
Tomorrow more Oxfam, getting car tyre fixed at last and chasing up jobs again.
Spent the day at Oxfam, getting more entrenched in the event in 3 weeks, planned what I'm doing including building checkpoints, coordinating checkpoints and general logistics role.
Spent most of day allocating event equipment and distributing it ready for dispatch to site.
Grabbed some shopping on way home, had dinner and watched a bit of TV.
Tomorrow more Oxfam, getting car tyre fixed at last and chasing up jobs again.
Monday 3 August 2009
Day Fifty Two
Today I applied for a few more jobs, well 2, I've figured it takes about an hour and a bit to re-jig a cover letter and tweek the CV to match the job spec. I also chased up all the jobs I applied for recently to see if there was any update, unsurprisingly I got eff all response!
Had an email dialogue with another agent who is putting my CV around.
Not much else to report, big news here at moment is this
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8181076.stm
I'm adding it so in future I can reference back to things that happened, it isn't a pleasant story, I've heard the recording and I think to be fair he had to go.
I've spent the last hour and a bit trying to get hold of Ticketmaster UK to get the U2 tickets for Hazel re-dispatched to the folks. Despite informing Shitmaster UK that I had moved (as it were to folks) they are still dispatching tickets to London.
Can you find a customer services number on the website, well yes you can but it's disconnected, I had to google it and find a number of other disconnected numbers before finding one that worked. Had the hell of 'we are busy, please hang on' and a disinterested operator on other end...
For anyone who may care Ticketmaster UK customer service can be found on 08444 999 999....
Off to bed now!
Had an email dialogue with another agent who is putting my CV around.
Not much else to report, big news here at moment is this
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8181076.stm
I'm adding it so in future I can reference back to things that happened, it isn't a pleasant story, I've heard the recording and I think to be fair he had to go.
I've spent the last hour and a bit trying to get hold of Ticketmaster UK to get the U2 tickets for Hazel re-dispatched to the folks. Despite informing Shitmaster UK that I had moved (as it were to folks) they are still dispatching tickets to London.
Can you find a customer services number on the website, well yes you can but it's disconnected, I had to google it and find a number of other disconnected numbers before finding one that worked. Had the hell of 'we are busy, please hang on' and a disinterested operator on other end...
For anyone who may care Ticketmaster UK customer service can be found on 08444 999 999....
Off to bed now!
Sunday 2 August 2009
Day Fifty One
Sunday Sunday....
Brief update today, not much to report. Got up and chilled out, drove Kate to the pub so she could meet up with friends for lunch. Came home, intended to visit the boat show at Darling Harbour but ended up just doing a load of stuff around house that has been hanging about. Trying to get organised for the arrival of our 23 boxes which may be arriving this week.
Headed over to Kate's folks for some dinner, took delivery of some proper bacon which Carl got form her butcher. Decent bacon for first time since leaving blighty, although not so good for health kick, ah well a little treat.
That's it, tomorrow job hunting.
Have a good week all...
Brief update today, not much to report. Got up and chilled out, drove Kate to the pub so she could meet up with friends for lunch. Came home, intended to visit the boat show at Darling Harbour but ended up just doing a load of stuff around house that has been hanging about. Trying to get organised for the arrival of our 23 boxes which may be arriving this week.
Headed over to Kate's folks for some dinner, took delivery of some proper bacon which Carl got form her butcher. Decent bacon for first time since leaving blighty, although not so good for health kick, ah well a little treat.
That's it, tomorrow job hunting.
Have a good week all...
Saturday 1 August 2009
Day Fifty
I got up and watched some Top Gear over the t'internet, Kate slept in for a while got up and then we had brekkie. We threw the bikes in the car and drove over to Bondi beach. The plan was to cycle along the coast but this didn't seem practical so we grabbed a bit of lunch and went for a walk instead. As you can see from the pics below it was a really nice day. We then drove to Centennial Park, parked the car and took to the cycle track. Centenniel Park is much like Central or Hyde Parks but has bonus of allowing you to park inside. We cycled around the track twice, a total of 7.6km, it was good fun and I'm sure we'll be doing it a lot more.
http://www.centennialparklands.com.au/home
We came back to Glebe, had a call with folks and then jumped on tram to SCG to catch the Swans game. It was a really good game, especially in the 4th quarter where it was neck and neck, the Swans finally edged ahead in the dying minutes but alas St/Kilda pipped them at the post and won it by one point. I did find some interesting facts about the SCG, apparently if you dare to start a Mexican wave its instant expulsion...hell knows why, also if you smuggle booze in, again instant expulsion plus a $220 fine...seems the fun police run the SCG. Was going to catch some Ashes back at home but it's raining in blighty apparently...
A busy day all in all....
http://www.centennialparklands.com.au/home
We came back to Glebe, had a call with folks and then jumped on tram to SCG to catch the Swans game. It was a really good game, especially in the 4th quarter where it was neck and neck, the Swans finally edged ahead in the dying minutes but alas St/Kilda pipped them at the post and won it by one point. I did find some interesting facts about the SCG, apparently if you dare to start a Mexican wave its instant expulsion...hell knows why, also if you smuggle booze in, again instant expulsion plus a $220 fine...seems the fun police run the SCG. Was going to catch some Ashes back at home but it's raining in blighty apparently...
A busy day all in all....
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