MWNews 150

The big boss is sitting behind me so I am not sure how much I will be able to type into this entry. I am sure he will wonder why I am typing so much as we do not do a lot of typing in the job.

Today, I am covering the phones as most people took today off. It is a Friday and yesterday was Hobart Show Day. Apparently, it is a holiday in Hobart but I am not sure how widespread it is. The government shuts down but I don't know if it is only the Hobart government or the state government or who it actually is that was not working yesterday. Me, being part of the government, did not work yesterday and most people take today off as well so they get a four day weekend. No such luck for me as I was asked to cover for all the people who are off. Doesn't really matter anyway as I need to work as many hours as I can since I do not get paid when I am not working like the other government workers are.

Anyway, I am going to try to type this but with the big boss right here, have no idea why he did not take off, it might get a little dicey with me doing this instead of answering the phones. Of course, since there is no one here, there is no one to call into the IT support desk but having said that, I have already received four calls in the last hour. Not a lot but not nothing either. Problem is, if I do not know the answer, there is no one else to ask so I have to just log it and tell them someone will look into it Monday. Not that anyone ever does but it keeps them off the phone when I am here by myself.

To continue the work talk before I move on to something else, the project I am working on has run into a stall. I think I mentioned there are no more machines to give out. They did not order them, they did not receive them yet, they did not order enough. Lots of reasons but bottom line is, I have nothing to do. I think they have already noticed that and they might want me to not come in until the next order of machines arrives, which would be fatal to me as I need the money since we are planning a move and all my extra money goes to that. If I don't work, then we cannot move. It's as simple as that. But it hasn't happened yet and I have more news about that anyway.

I don't remember if I mentioned it here, and of course, I am not going back to look, but I was offered the job permanently, or sort of offered it. I probably need to go back and find out how much I have talked about it here but I will try to get through it without too much repeat news. Then again, if I don't say everything, you might get confused. I know I am. But lets give it a try.

Several of the current people have left. Their positions are open. I was told I should apply for it as I have been doing the job for a year and I would probably be the leading candidate. I was told by one person that the job was mine if I wanted it but I was told by another that it is not up to them and I would have to go through the government process of new hires before I would be considered. Me being a foreigner, I may not be allowed to do some government work, so the job is not really guaranteed but they did say it was mine for the asking. I did not ask for it. I am moving. But I have not moved yet so maybe there is still the chance I will stay. Not that I like the job but I do like being employed. As I have been telling everyone, I can be unemployed in Brisbane as well as here so I might as well move. But, stay tuned.

On the home front, plans have changed again. Juanita has a unit in Brisbane, or somewhere near Brisbane, in the north. She has already payed a deposit on it and been told it is hers. It does not become available until December. No idea when in December as they are going to refurbish it before they allow her to move in but they say December. If it is not ready by then, then they are in trouble. She and the kids are leaving November 26. They will stay in Sydney for a few days, then go north of Sydney for another few days and then supposedly on to Brisbane to move in. That is their current plan. Now lets talk about the flaws in that plan.

William does not get out of school until December 20. So he will miss the last month of the school year. She says that is not a problem. It is. Maeghan will already be out of school as she gets out at the beginning of November sometime. She has to go back for a test on some day but essentially, she is out of school in the next two weeks. They would have been leaving earlier except for Maeghan having to be there for this test.

Juanita has already changed the tickets. It cost a bunch of money to do that, money we do not have, but she has already done it without asking me first. Not that I get approval of anything but she could have mentioned she was going to instead of doing it and then telling me. Which brings us to another major issue.

I am still working. I will not be going with them. I am still scheduled to leave on the original date, December 23. I suppose I am still going but I am waiting for the other shoe to drop and be told that I am not going with them. I do have the trailer that is supposed to be filled with some of their stuff but I am sure they will make due without it if they decide they do not want me to go. Yea, yea, she says she wants me to come and she says she still wants us to live together but seems kind of strange to plan all this without including me. Guess it is just me being paranoid, but I have earned the right to be paranoid.

So they will leave on November 26. I will be here to get rid of anything that will not fit in the trailer. Load the trailer and my van by myself, which includes several things that I cannot load by myself. Then have my house cleaned and sanitized for final inspection that I cannot do anything about since if they find anything wrong, I will be in another part of the country with no way back. It does not bode well for me getting any of my bond back. I am not looking forward to it. By then, most of my stuff should be sold, so I will be living without furniture or beds or anything for a month. Anything that is left over, I will have to find a way to get rid of, which means taking it to the tip so I don't have to pack it. I think I am going to try packing everything before they go just so I can see how much I can actually pack and what I will need to be getting rid of. Maybe it will not be a lot, but it probably will be.

I haven't really mentioned the whole Christmas thing. I will be by myself on Christmas apparently. No kids, no family, no one to be with me. I know, poor sad little me. It's actually not that bad, it's just another day, but I feel bad about it for the kids. We do not get to be together. That's never happened before. During all the times that Juanita and I have been apart, we have always been together for Christmas. She has missed my birthday several times, so have the kids. And there was the couple of anniversaries. Of course, no Thanksgiving since we live in Austria, but we have never missed a Christmas. Guess this will be the first, probably in a long line of things to come.

Let see, is there anything else I can rant about. I could go on and on about the real estate people but what's the point. When they come to screw me over again, I will probably find the time to do that later and if not, they there is still no point in doing it now. Let's just say I do not have a high opinion of them.

Let's go on a lighter note. I mentioned the Hobart Show. I might have mentioned it in the past. Think of a stock show on a much smaller scale, or much smaller than what I am used to. It is basically the same thing but a whole lot less fun since it is in Hobart and there are not that many people here to make it a big time thing. It is expensive, or it has always has been in the past. Not that we ever go to it but we have been once or twice. Some of the pictures I post here are from that.

We prefer the local Huon show. It is much smaller but that just means you can get in and out in less than a day and still see everything that you would see at the Hobart show. It is all the same people but on a much smaller scale. It will be in November sometime, I believe the 16th. We usually go to that one each year. It is much cheaper to get into and while the food and everything is still very expensive, there is not as much of it so you are not tempted to eat or spend money all the time. You can watch the shows, see the exhibits, ride the rides (very expensive so limited to one or two per person), play the games (again, expensive so only one or two). Since it is much smaller, you just walk around once, do what you can, and then sit around and decide whether we want to leave or not. Nothing to hang around for, nothing to go see again, and not a lot of hassle in getting around from one place to another. It does get crowded, but if you go early, you can sit in the shade when it gets really crowded because you have already done everything and if we decide to stay, the crowds thins out and we can do it all over again before it closes. It's a good show on the whole.

Since it is in November, it has always been part of Williams presents for his birthday. We take him to the show, give him some money and he does what he wants and is happy. I would think he would want a more permanent gift but he seems happy with it and we do get him a couple of other things besides that. It's a fairly good deal all around, or most of the time it is. I do limit my spending to under $100 and Juanita usually spends about the same thing, so it will cost us $200 to do it again this year but maybe we will cut back on that since we are moving and need the money for that.

Which does bring up another complaint. When we were going together, Juanita was paying the petrol costs as I will have no money, no job. Now that we are not going together, I am wondering if now I have to find a way to get there myself. I don't know. We should probably talk about that. There are lots of things we still need to talk about.

And I should mention the heat again. Yesterday, Show Day, it was very hot here. Or, it was very hot for here. It was 30. Now that is not hot at all for Brisbane, you pray for the days when it is only 30, but for here, it was hot. We had three fans going, until one of them blew up, but we had three giant fans going. These are the good kind of fans and not just they cheap ones as we both got tired of the cheap ones a few years ago and got the industrial strength ones. They move a lot of air. So much so, I do not sit anywhere with them blowing directly on me as it really gives me a headache and makes my joints ache as well. (I'm old). With the three fans, it made it tolerable but I could only imagine what it is going to be like when we get to Brisbane. We do have some semblance of air conditioning in the new unit, or I am told there will be, but those things are expensive to run and electricity costs are not cheap anywhere in Australia. It cost a lot to run them and I prefer to try to get by without turning them on. In Brisbane, you have to turn them on eventually, but I will try to postpone it as long as possible. Weirdly, I do not mind the cold air blowing on me, just the high velocity fans that we both have. In my house, I can keep it really cool by placing the fan at one end of the hall, opening the bedroom windows at that end and then opening the front door and the side door so it creates a breeze through there. I doesn't really keep it cool but it keeps it tolerable, which is all I am hoping for. With everyone living at my place, William likes to keep his bedroom door closed and he is in there all day. His room is critical in the evenings and it is on the shady side of the house and those windows need to be open so a breeze is created. The other two bedrooms are on the sunny side and it gets hot in there so you do not want that breeze coming through. So trying to create a cool breeze while William is home becomes almost impossible. But none of that matters because we are moving. I am sure the good ole Brisbane sun is not as hot as it is here in the wilderness of Tasmania.

Now that I have typed all this, and did it without interruption, I think I should be going to lunch. No more phone calls so far and it is noon. I don't go to lunch until one but I can start thinking about it. Plus, since it is lunchtime, the big boss should be going to lunch soon and I can add the picture to this without him seeing. So it works all the way around. Then again, I will be bored once I finish this so maybe I will do another entry. Two in one day. I think I did that a long time ago but it was an accident and not meant for humans. All in all, a really crappy entry full of complaints and misgivings. In other words, typical.

So it's goodbye from me and goodbye from the water bottle.

Until next time