MWNews 172

 

Let's see what I can find to complain about today. I was thinking I would try to write an entry that did not have any complaints in it but as I thought more about it, I assumed it was impossible. Besides, what would be interesting in a post like that. So expect the worst and hope for the best. I'll try to amuse and entertain but there is little hope of that, especially since the first thing I am going to complain about is the inability to type. I'll work through it.

I am back at work, or what passes for work. At the care centre for old people. They are still in lockdown and I am told most of the buildings are not accessible. I am not sure why I am here yet as none of the bosses have shown up to tell me what I am supposed to be doing. I have heard most of the nurses stations are complaining about their printers but as I am not allowed to visit those sections of the buildings, I am not sure what I can do about it.

By the way, as short side note complaint, I hate the fact that I have to go back and correct the spelling of center in these pages. I don't always do it but it always tells me to change it to centre and I hate that. but that a minor inconvenience I suppose.

I was asked when I walked in the door to go see someone down in the lunch room about not being able to sign in. When I got there, the person making the complaint had left and gone home due to the lockdown. The other's in the room said she had locked herself out of the computer and since I cannot reset passwords, there was nothing I could do. That is just a typical thing I deal with on this job, little complaints that I cannot fix but it makes them happy that I visit I suppose.

Had a job south of the city yesterday. South of Surface Paradise to be exact. Probably does not mean anything to you but you could look it up. It's kind of famous, on the Gold Coast of Queensland, south of Brisbane. Anyway, it takes me two hours to drive there. I said I would only do it if they payed for my time to drive there. They agreed so I headed off and spent 15 minutes figuring out that the printer was broken and they needed a new one. Of course, I spent two hours on the phone trying to explain that to the head office that had called me out. They kept having me repeat things I had already done and told them I had already done but they insisted I try them again while they were on the phone. A complete waste of time. In the end, they ordered a new printer.

I only mention it because I talked Juanita and Maeghan into taking the ride with me. William did not want to go so he stayed home. After I finished, we went to the largest shopping center in Australia, or I think it is the largest. I looked it up once and forget whether it was first, second or third. It's somewhere in there. You would expect it to be that high in the rankings as it is on the Gold Coast. I think Bondi in Sydney might be bigger but I am not sure. This one is called Pacific Fair and is an indoor/outdoor shopping center with a large area in the middle that has fountains and sitting areas and a little river running through it. It might be a nice place if it wasn't so hot in Queensland this time of year. Plus, I was not feeling well, heart problems you know, so we had to stop every hundred yards for me to recover. Wasn't ideal but it was pleasant none the less. Maeghan has her wheelchair so she doesn't care. She just rides around and isn't bothered by the walking. Juanita had gotten a bad phone call while I was working and she was not happy but we soldiered on. I think we got around the majority of the shops but there were a couple that I would have liked to go in but was not feeling up to it. They have the really expensive shops there and the really cheap ones as well. Not mixed together but it depends on what part of the mall you are in. 

We were going to have coffee in the outdoor area with the river and fountains but the so called coffee shop that was there was actually a very high end restaurant. They servers things that started at $35 and went up from there. I could not see a coffee machine anywhere and it was not on the menu so we decided to move on. I can't imagine they get a lot of business in that place and an actual coffee shop would be a better fit but it is what is was. There were kids swimming in the little river and lots of people sitting around on the lounges and tables. It is a pleasant area but too hot on normal days. We will have to come back when the weather cools a bit in six months.

We did drive by the beach for a while and it was very tempting to get out and go sit in the water. There were several areas that looked very nice but since it is school holidays, they were all packed. No places to park so we kept driving. It did look nice though. We generally don't go that far when we go to the Gold Coast. We stop at Surfers Paradise and stay in that area. Surfers Paradise is where Sea World is near and we actually thought about stopping there since we have season passes but decided against that as well. We had to go shopping at Costco on the way home so we just drove on by, on our two hour return home trip.

This all really comes up in that fact that I just received a call about taking a six month contract in an area that is about 30 minutes inland from where we were. I am just being nominated for it but as I am normally over-qualified for these types of jobs, it is just a question of them wanting to work with me. I am old and experienced and they usually want someone new and younger. I am expecting a call from them for an interview at any minute.

It will be a long way to travel each day. Two and a half hours on public transport, about an hour and a half in the car. Since we only have one car these days, it will present a problem but once I figure out the train and bus route, I will probably take that instead of driving. William still has to go to school and Maeghan has to have her wheelchair anywhere she goes so they need the car. Don't know much about the job yet, I just got a call to expect an interview. We will see how it goes. If they are paying me minimum, I will not take it but if it is worth my time, I will take the job as it is a more steady job than the one offs I am doing now. 

Back to the home life. Adam and Leslie are still living with us. Leslie is more permanent I suspect but I am beginning to wonder about what Adam's plans are. I don't feel that great about a 40 something year old man living with us, who seems to have no plans for the future. He does not seem to be looking for anything in the way of work and spends 90% of his time in the garage watching TV or sleeping. That used to be where Leslie spent 90% of his time but now he sits on the couch in the lounge room and plays his phone all day. Only getting up occasionally to make himself something to eat. Leslie is 18 now but I have no idea what his plans are or what is expected of him. He has a speech impediment that makes it very hard to understand him when he talks. His mother is useless and has done nothing for him so he just lives with us for now. Maybe he will decide to do something or maybe not but I don't know how long this arrangement can last. He'll need help from someone and I have no idea where to even start. It's a tough life with little hope coming up for the future for all of us. Maybe something will change and maybe it won't. I'll explain why in the next paragraph.

I just got the call for the interview for this new job. It would seem they require me to have a car everyday. As explained earlier, I cannot do that, so that job is out of the question. I have called to tell my person that I will not be taking the job but he was on the phone and has not called me back yet. So, no long term commitment for me. My worry is that if I don't take this one, they will not offer me any more. I already have one person at the agency that no longer offers me jobs since I turned down her factory work opportunity. That job is where you spend 8 hours a day standing in front of hundreds of computers putting them together and imaging them. It's easy work but I cannot stand for 8 hours a day doing it. I have done it in the past but can't do it anymore. Plus, it doesn't pay very much so it is not worth my time. She was offended when I starting turning her down for the job so now I never hear from her again. Hopefully, this will not be the same result for this new job. Since I turned it down, he may not offer me anything else and then I am really screwed, pardon the French.

So on that depressing bit of news, I will move on. 

William has decided to sell his old Xbox games. He has some he bought at reduced prices over the years and now has decided to try to sell them. I have told him no one will give him any money for these but he is set on trying it. I have no idea why. Since we have five Xbox machines in the house, and only four TVs, I think he just wants to buy new games so he can have something the others don't or get some of the games they have. Did I mention we have five Xbox in the house. Adam brought his own so in addition to mine, Williams, the new one I got Maeghan for Christmas, Leslie's, and we now have Adam's. I am the only one with an Xbox account, so when they want to play the games I have, which are online, they have to sign in as me and download the games so they can play it. Not that I have a lot of games but I have been an Xbox Gold member for a long time and I get free games every month. I have over 300 titles, none of which I play, but I have them available to download anytime I I want. It's a huge catalogue and there are some decent games out there, even though they are old games, so occasionally, the others want to play them. It means they have to be signed in as me to get access to them but once they have me signed in, they can use their own ids to play the games. I won't say they do this a lot, but last month my internet downloads on my ISP were over 5 terabytes. I think that is a lot. Most of the time, our internet connection is non-existent as everyone is signed in and trying to play or watch things on TV. I had to buy an extender so the connection reaches my bedroom where the computer is and the garage where the other TV is. We lose signal in the bedroom a lot and I do not know what it is like in the garage but it is slow everywhere most of the time. Telstra tells me they are upgrading the system but they have no idea when that will happen. I was paying for the faster connection but they told me it was not possible in my area so they gave me a refund and put it back down to normal speed. The problem with that is, when it does go to the higher speed in our area, I will not know it so I can start paying for the faster connection unless they tell me, and I do not see that happening.

I am tired of typing and I have not said anything. Just complained the whole time. I am sure there are lots of things I should be talking about but this has mostly been about work or the lack thereof. Sorry about that. I think they are about to kick me out of here anyway as they are now putting up barriers to all the doors to keep people out, or maybe it is to keep people in. I am in an office out of the way but I am sure they will get around to me eventually so I probably should go out and find out what is going on. These entries have been too long lately, anyway. I just wish I had gone into the kids more. Not that they are doing anything special but this about them and not me and my job situation. Ok, we know that's never been true, but I can keep saying it as long as I keep trying. But, I think I am going to wrap this up for now. I keep planning on taking out the laptop and making some entries at home but I never seem to do it. I will make a more concerted effort, although I have no idea what a concerted effort means. Is that even a phrase and have I used it correctly. Who cares. Not me.

So, until next time,

Later

MWNews171

I missed last week. Meant to put something in last Friday but I was turned away from work. Seems they have put this place in lockdown as they had a reported case on the third floor. It was debated for a while whether I would stay but then they decided I was non-essential so they sent me home. Still got paid for four hours work so that was ok.

I am back here today, but this place is still in lockdown. No one allowed in unless they are fully vaccinated and we have to wear a full mask and gown at all times. Fortunately, they provide them but we are still not allowed on the third floor of this building. I am told there was one case that caused the lockdown and one additional case after that but it has been in quarantine for 7 days so they are letting some people come back to work. Not many, but some. It was determined that I am essential this week. They have a server down and they want me to figure out why. Since I will be unable to visit any of the other places I usually go, once I figure out why the server is not working, I am not sure what I do the rest of the day. I think me typing in this blog would indicate I do not have a lot to do.

Let's see, where was I last time. I think it was before Christmas but once again, I cannot be bothered to go look so I will proceed like I have never mentioned Christmas and you are all eager to learn about it. Ok, I went back and checked and I did mention something about Christmas day, so I will not go into that sad tale again. Only sad for me, lack of presents and all, so I am guessing it was actually a good day. It would appear I did that last entry from home but I have no recollection of doing that. Maybe it was a myth.

Since then, we have had New Years eve. It was fun. I thought about it this time and actually tried to book tickets to the free party at Redcliff. I did it the day before and I was able to get six tickets to the event. It is actually a market and some fireworks at 7 and 9 at night, but we had tried last year on the day and were unable to get tickets to get in. Which brings up the actual tickets you get. No one ever checked them at the event and no one seemed to care who was there and who was not. I think it was just a ruse to get my email address so they can send me advertising but since they already had mine, there was no loss there. Not sure if we could have gone the year before but since it was just a market, I am not sure how they would have checked if you had tickets or not. Anyone could just walk in and go to the market and then stay for the fireworks.

Maeghan did not do her thing at this market. It was not that kind of market, although she has done the Redcliff market before, just not the New Years Eve one. There were not a lot of stalls that were not food there. Maybe a third of the normal number of stalls and all of them food related. A couple that were not and the addition of some kids games and things, carnival type games. Throw the ball, shoot the water in the mouth and a few more. Nothing we wanted to do but they are not normally there at these markets and they were all stuck down at one end so we did not see them but once. They did have a baby animal petting zoo that Maeghan really liked so she spent some time there petting some baby pigs and goats and things. She likes it. William went up there too but I don't think he petted anything. Maybe a pig. Leslie was also with us but I did not see him while we were at the petting zoo so I don't know what he did. He had some money and went off and looked at comic books or something. He bought a few, for 50 cents each or something like that.

Our original plan was to get there early and stake out a place for the fireworks show later. I would sit there and watch our spot so the others could go enjoy the market. We thought there would be no parking and we would have to walk a fair ways. Turns out, we were there two hours early and we could park right next to the market. So no walking at all. Caused a problem when we were leaving as we had to wait and wait for everyone else to leave but we got there and parked right next to some stalls and did not have to walk at all. 

Most of the stalls were just setting up so we walked up to some picnic tables that were right next to the water and would have a good view of where we thought the fireworks would be. We were right about the spot but right after we got there, the wind kicked in. I think it was about 60 klms per hour wind. Too much to do anything and it was cold and had some rain in it. It was horrific. We waited for about half an hour to see what would happen. With that wind, there was no way there was going to be any fireworks. The guy setting them up was out on the pier with his truck and trailer but the tarp he had on the trailer, which I can only assume contained the fireworks, kept blowing loose in the wind. He spent most of the time trying to keep it tied down. After a while, he just tied it down and left it. Didn't try to put up any more fireworks. 

We decided it was probably not going to happen and we left our spot to look around at any of the booths that might have tried to open in the wind. It would seem that most of them were prepared for this and had manged to get their tents and awnings and whatever they were using to stand up and not be blown away. I have no idea how they managed that. It was just about time for them to open anyway so most of them had, not all, some were still struggling, but about three quarters of them had opened and were doing business. Not a lot of people at that time so we managed to get all the way up the street and back without much trouble. By that time, the wind might have been dying down. It was on the street but that is protected by the tents and some trees. It looked like next to the water, it was still blowing pretty good. 

We were deciding if we should stay or not. We could not find anybody that was an official or anything so we could not know if they were going to proceed with the shows. We decided to have our dinner, even though it was about 5 o'clock and we had not planned on eating until later. I had made some snacks and stuff for us and the kids were hungry, so we sat on a bench and ate. Not too bad and the wind kept getting less windy. By the time we finished, we had decided we were going to stay for the show. Having lost our original place, the bench we sat on was pretty good also, so we camped there. It was right where the pier started so we would have a good view there also, although by this time, other people had the same idea so we were surrounded. Saw some dogs in raincoats next to us and I made fun of them but Maeghan loved it. She said they were cute. Later that evening, when it had stopped threatening to rain, they dogs were changed into pajamas. I didn't agree with it but that was cute.

The kids would take turns every once and a while to wander through the markets again. Everything was open by then. And there were a lot of people. The street became completely impassable. I am glad we had out spot as it got very, very crowded as it got closer to the firework show. One thing I forgot to mention was the wind sculpture they have at Redcliff. It is a big tower that has two loops on opposite sides of it. When the wind blows, they rock back and forth in a circle. If the wind blows hard enough, they spin all the way around. When we were siting at our picnic table when we first got there, we were about 10 feet away from the tower. The spinning loops were going crazy and the whole tower was shimmering back and forth. I am sure it was not safe but we stayed there for some time before we left. It was scary as these things are not small and they were spinning very very fast. I am sure they are built to withstand these winds but I am not that sure about it. I was glad we moved when we did.

Anyway, when it got to firework time, we had good seats but there was a very large crowd there by then. It our little area where we were there were probably a couple thousand people. We were right above the beach and it was packed with kids and people. Lots of them probably causing trouble but we had a fence and a little hill between us and them so we were not bothered. Standing room only for most of the people but we had our bench. We had brought chairs to sit on but the little lawn that was behind us was taken over by people so we did not set them up. It wasn't bad at all but there were some restless kids around so you had to keep an eye out so as not to trip them as they ran by or push them off the fence onto the beach. Some family took over all the tables that were in front of us, they were the ones with the dogs, and other than constantly moving the tables and chairs around, they were no trouble.

There was no clock around or countdown or anything. The fireworks just started at 7. One big one to start off with and let everyone know it was happening. It was pretty good for a little town show. Some company had donated it all for both shows. Went on for about 20 minutes. Not quite dark enough but it didn't seem to matter. Everyone liked it a lot. They had a couple that were unique or things I had not seen before but most were pretty standard. One big one at the end shot several colours across the sky that all exploded at the same time. A good ending. Then everyone started to leave. All at once so the traffic jam was going to be horrific.

Maeghan and I decided we should avoid the crowds and stay for the second show. Our reasoning was it would be darker and it was probably the better show. Juanita, William and Leslie hated the idea. They were ready to go. I had to promise to buy them more food to make them stay. Juanita was not feeling well but Leslie and William both wanted Subway. All those food tents and trucks and they wanted Subway, which was open right behind us. I agreed to get them a sandwich. Big mistake. Not a problem with Subway, it was the line and the kids in front of me in the line. Seems there were two mothers there waiting. I have no idea where they were from, I did not understand the language, but they had four kids between them that were also waiting in line. Or, they were supposed to be. They were screaming and yelling and playing with each other the whole time. At one point, one of the mothers told them to stop doing something, I have no idea what and they looked sullen and then went to explore all that Subway had to offer in the way of entertainment. The first choice was the hand sanitiser that all businesses are required to keep in supply. Most just have a bottle of stuff for the customer's use. The kids took this to mean they could take the bottle and use it anywhere. They first sprayed their hands, then brought it over so the mothers could spray their hands, then they started spraying each other. That started the chasing each other though the Subway. There is not a lot of room in a Subway and the line was out the door so this caused a few problems with the other customers. I was right next to the mothers so they stayed away from that area to keep from getting in trouble, but everyone else either got pushed or run into or possibly squirted with the hand lotion. The mothers never said a thing. The only thing that stopped this behaviour was when they ran our of hand sanitizer and there was not reason to chase each other anymore.

This led to the worst part. They discovered the fridges where the drinks are kept. They thought they were free to sample I guess. I know the little girl opened four or five of the drinks and when it was pointed out to the mothers, they did nothing except to tell the girl to put them back. She had a drink pouch at that point and with the mother telling her to put it back, she twisted the top off and ran and threw it back into the fridge. I am certain they got away with it as the staff were too busy making orders to keep track of what these kids were doing. I have debated whether I should have said anything or not. I think I should have but by that time, I was ready to order so I was going to tell the cashier when I got up there. The kids and the mother were in front of me and while I can understand it is hard to order for that many kids and keep it all straight, they wanted to split the bill and each pay for their own. Fair enough but they could not tell the cashier which ones belonged to which order. And then they decided they all wanted the combo, with drinks and cookies but again, they could not tell the cashier which ones went on what order. The kids were busy grabbing drinks from the fridge and yelling at the mothers that they wanted whatever food they were expecting right then. The mothers kept talking to each other and the cashier kept trying to figure out what went with what order. In the end, I am pretty sure they walked out with most of the drinks for free and did not actually pay for half the order. The cashier called the manager over to figure it out but he was busy and did not seem interested in finding out what was what. I payed for my order but the others came out the door at the same time I did so I know it was not straightened out. I have a sneaking suspicion that they did this on purpose to get free food but I was not there to figure this out for them so I suppose it was not my problem. Should have made it my problem but the store was very busy and taking the time to sort it out and provide witnesses was not something anyone seemed to be interested in.

But that was the Subway story. 30 minutes of fighting through all that and I did not even get a sandwich. Juanita and I ate the remaining snacks I had and since she wasn't feeling well, I left it at that. Maeghan did go buy some pork buns or something but they were not good and needed sauce badly. Kind of dry and tasteless without the sauce, even soy sauce would have been good. But none to be had.

All this led us to close to the second show and while the crowd had thinned considerably, a new batch had showed up and I think there were just as many as the first time.

But we were right. The second show was better. Not a lot better but it went a little longer and they had a few more big shootouts or whatever you call it when they send a lot of fireworks up at once. It was good. Same ending firework but it was just as good as the first time we saw it. It was all over about 9:30. The market was not expected to end until 10 but I noticed that a lot of the stalls had already begun to shut and they did not have a lot of food left at some of them. We were already close to the car so we went straight there. Took a long time to get out but we made it.

Maeghan and I wanted to go somewhere else but everyone else wanted to go home. I deliberately drove by a couple of places that had very large Christmas light shows and Juanita loves the Christmas lights, so we went looking at the ones in Redcliff. Lots of the apartment buildings put up lights over the whole building. It was pretty spectacular. These are multi-story buildings on the ocean so the people are rich and go to a lot of trouble to put up a big display. About 10 or 12 building all together. It was good. I wanted to go see more but Juanita spotted a carnival further down the beach. It was lit up pretty well and we decided to drive over to check it out. When we got over there, she wanted to park and go in but I pointed out that I had already spent all my money on the food and stuff and did not have anymore to take every one to the carnival. It is an expensive carnival, we have been there many times, and the rides are all 10 dollars or more plus it costs just to go in. It was pretty but the inside is always boring with nothing going on and just some cheap rides that are over priced. I convinced her it was not worth it but that killed the evening for looking at Christmas displays, so we just went home from there to wait for midnight. Took us until almost 11 to get home so we only had an hour to wait. Said our happy New years and went to bed. Not drinking or anything but that was probably for the best. I was too tired to drink anyway.

This has been another long entry. I have spent the better part of two hours typing it. I have noticed that most of my entries lately have been way too long. I should probably break them up into different days so I have more content but once I get to writing, I keep going. And it is hard to find the time so I get as much as I can in while I am at it. Don't know if that is better or worse and I know I leave out a lot of stuff because I get tired of typing and spend too much time on one thing and never get to the others. But its a work in progress. Been going on for over 15 years, off and on. I think it might be worth saving but who knows. I do what I can. Guess that's all from me.

Until next time, 

Later