Pinch Me

Pinch me indeed, I am having a completely work free day from both jobs - woohoo. Have got a load of washing on and sheer luxury, am watching a bit of morning tv - (hollywood gossip) while sitting on the couch with the heater on. Winter is here and whilst it is a realatively rain free winter, it is FREEZING, or close to. Wouldn't you know it, there have been lowest temps recorded in the last few weeks, since Adam was a cowboy, lol. I think the temp over night in Geraldton last week was 1Celsius. Luckily the days are correspondingly warm when out of the wind so it is a case of dressing in layers morning and night.



"School" finished last Thursday followed by a quick clean up and staff meeting on Friday so at the moment I am down to one job. In a true case of Murphy's law, this is the week my hours finally drop at the fast food establishment so I have gone from 50 - 60 hours a week to just over 20 hours this week - gotta love the employment roller coaster that I am on, lol. I am picking however that the fast food establishment may give me extra hours seeing it is school holidays and I already picked up two extra hours yesterday.



On my list of getting things sorted, last week, I got my eyes tested. During the packing from the WM's house to house sitting, I found my old pair of glasses, put them on and wow, could see like I didn't have glasses on if that makes sense to anyone. They were a bit bent out of shape, so took them to the optometrist (who regularly will put glasses back into shape or fit for no cost), got them straightened as best as possible and have been wearing them since. So, made an appointment for an eye test at the same time as it is 2 1/2 yrs since they were last done. It would seem my eyes are more in sync with my old glasses than the new ones, though there is some drop in one eye for close up sight. OMG, they took a photo of the back of my eyeballs - how is that even possible????? Anyway, I can truely say, I have seen the back of mine now, pink, round, with veins tracking across the back of them - should have asked for a copy, lol. It would seem that graduated lenses are maybe not the best for what I need and the optometrist suggested two pairs of glasses instead which I have no interest in. That is why I got graduated lenses in the first place cos I was always putting my glasses down and forgetting where etc. Once again, how can we get man on the moon and not get things sorted better to see!!!!. Am taking time to think about the next step.



The car is going well but I think I underestimated the effort to get it started. OMG, have built up inner thigh muscles that you wouldn't believe. The first time I got to start it easily must have been down to the wind being in the right quarter, lol. After that time, for the next few weeks, I had to start it in neutral, push the clutch sideways with my right foot, then quickly change feet before putting it in gear and driving off. That got old real quick so have persisted, (nearly getting groin strain in the early stages I might add) and now most times, I can get it started with my left foot, woohoo. I am averaging spending $10 week on petrol except for when I have done a trip out of town, so am very happy with that.



The joys of house sitting, technology and using unfamiliar remotes. Had a fit of housework the other weekend, during which I came across the remote for the heatpump/airconditioning sort of thing, lol. We had these in the boarding school in NZ but the staff and girls mainly used them, (I managed if I had the written, how to, piece of paper in front of me or others telling me what to do), and Dad had one, (but of course, the remote seldom left his hand, lol) but in a fit of how hard could it be to turn it on and warm the place up, I pressed the on button. I imagine the last time it was used, was in the height of summer, so cold air came swooshing out, and out, and out, and out, as after trying to change it to warm, going through a variety of options on the remote, it appeared that the batteries had died, and could not even get the damn thing turned off. I sat through a coffee with a friend who dropped round before giving up and we both shot down the road to buy more batteries and eureka, got it stopped, started and stopped again, and through experimentation, got warm air coming out.



If that was not enough, my next sorte was with the TV remote. I can count on the fingers of one hand nearly, how much tv I have watched over the past weeks, however, being on my own and getting home from work around 8pm instead of midnight, I thought I would check out what was on. What happened to turning the on button on a remote and the tv instantly coming on, on channel. This tv comes on with a blue screen and the brand name of the tv - great. I found the channel up down bit and pressed it and hey presto got a channel and thought this is easy, I will check the channels out. Not sure what I pressed next but ended up with info on picture, teletext, and a blank screen that when I pressed the channel piece, kept going through radio stations. I switched the damn thing off thinking if I did that, I could turn it back on and sneak up on a preset start - no such luck, and was back to the radio stations again - who has radio stations on tv for god's sake. I cannot remember how I got back onto the tv channels but it involved much switching on and off of the tv ( I am a slow learner, lol and hope springs eternal) when somehow I got back to tv, but joy of joys, the news in chinese, then japenese on some obscure channel and an sbs channel from memory. I think I might have got to the swearing stage by then and after going through every button on the remote, somehow I FINALLY found a channel I recognised, only to find there was nothing worth watching!!!!. I am now very careful when I turn the tv on and watch where my fingers are pressing everytime rather than guessing lol. What I have found during the past week as I got home late most nights, was the tennis at Wimbledon. Was gutted to see Federer lose in the quarter finals, but pleased to see Nadal win for the second time.



Washing machines - when did they get so complicated - what happened to small, medium and large washes and a basic cycle. The washing machine here does not have an agitator, so ok, can fit more in, but HOW does it clean, lol. There is a board that lights up like a flight deck and I have to negotiate about four different moves, AND if you get them done in the wrong sequence it cancels the lot out and you have to start again. This was complicated by trying to work it in the dark at midnight or thereabouts as I washed my uniform to get it out on the line (no dryer in the house, gasp) so it would be dry in the morning. It took me two weeks to find the light switch, lol, as it is on the left hand side of the door way, being an add on to the house at some point. Yay there is a dishwasher (pavement kissing moment, lol) but have only used it once as that is as much time as I have been here to get it filled. Again far too many switches but I seem to have an innate ability to use that piece of equipment, laughing lots. Thankfully, the stove is electric, though the elements are the old fashioned solid kind and I mean 1950's old fashioned where you could make pikelets on the top of them or cook griddle scones (my grandmother used to use them for making those). Have had little cause to use that piece of equipment more than cooking some bacon and eggs during the week so no dramas there.



Interesting point of difference in Aussi houses to NZ houses - I have mentioned this before when I first got to Tardun but it has come to notice again. Over here, a lot of houses have most of the rooms with curtains drawn or blinds shut - to keep the heat out and while that is great, at times it can feel like you are living in a tomb so to speak. On arrival here, every blind was drawn and curtain closed, and seeing heat is not an issue, I have tended to throw curtains open during the day, and have all blinds in the kitchen open so that any warmth from the sun, and actual light gets in. In my room the curtains are open 24 hours. I am fortunate (or the neighbours are fortunate, lol) that there is a banana tree right outside my window, with a double garage down the back of the section, a head high fence to the left of my room and to the back, so have complete privacy to do so. My bed is right against the main window which is bad Feng Shui but the only place it can fit. It is interesting with having no curtains as at night, have no insulation from the cold, but at least can see the stars. I just dress like the Michellen man to compensate, lol, and in fact the other night, wore a scarf to bed, gambling on the fact I would not strangle during the night!.



Have just looked at the time, and am going to help the WM's lads deliver pamplets again for a walk and some fresh air - I know, I am on my feet all week at work and am going to go walking on my day off!!!

Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to work I go.

Have just re-read my last post to see where I was when I last wrote. It is just a little over 20days ago and from where I am it seems more like 20 weeks. My cup so to speak is not merely full, it certainly overfloweth and I feel like a juggler balancing on one of those large balls, on top of a high wire, lol.


Somewhere after I last posted, I got home from work around 11.30pm to hear the TV going strong in the lounge and the WMH dozing on the couch. I went in quietly and asked if he wanted the telly off, whereupon, he decided to wake up properly and after we debriefed on work, which had been hectic, we then decided to have a hot drink. While we were making the drink and eating lamington cake left over from a do at "school" that day, I got offered a job. The job is to help out at the flexible learning centre (the what next after Tardun "school") for 20 hours a week which averages out from 9am - 1pm each day. I was offered a 13 week contract with the possibility it may or may not parlay into something more after that. The role offered was to be in the mode of social worker/help in the classroom. So by the time I went to sleep somewhere around 2am, my head was spinning with all sorts of possibilities and several omg's at being able to get back into the school system, woohoo. I took a nano second to think about the offer before saying yes of course, lol. From memory it was Thursday night/Friday morning when the offer occurred. On the Monday when I got in from work, there was a message to ring a number which I did, only to be offered a full time position with Child Protection. My first reaction was that they were joking me - which I said out loud, lol. But no, they were not. I told them I had just accepted a 13 week contract with the learning centre but would still be interested in being a casual with them as they had two positions going. Long story short, I have been to look the residential home over, and have signed a contract with them too, and am now just waiting to hear when they want me to work as I will shadow someone for between five and eight shifts before I work solo. When I visited, they only had two children in residence so it will be a good time to start. The woman who showed me around was the same one who did the original job seminar, was one of the interviewing panel, and was also the person who offered me the job on the phone, so that was all good. Most of the staff were to be involved in a conference last weekend so have not heard anymore from them but will ring tomorrow and let them know my availability.

Because the job at the school started on the Wednesday after I was offered the job, I was already locked into that week plus the next two weeks at the fast food job, so for the last 14 days I have been juggling 50+ hours a week with that and school. I had been given full day shifts, but luckily, I was able to swap the whole of last week for a week of nights, except I had two midnight finishes and a 2am finish on Saturday morning, so have been having naps here and there between the two jobs so I could manage.

If this was not enough, Phil from Tardun (ex neighbour) has not been well, and decided to go back to Sydney two weeks before the holidays and asked me to house sit. So, in between everything else, two Saturdays ago, I loaded up my suitcase and have been staying at his place, or rather passing through between jobs and sleep. I have to say, it could not have been better timing for me as working two jobs, and sleeping odd hours here and there, working in with the family would have been that much more difficult with all their comings and goings. I actually had last Sunday off but did not get out of bed until nearly 2pm, when I dashed round and finally unpacked and tidied before Janet came round for a coffee and a catch up, and then we went and got some groceries and had a hastily put together dinner before she headed home.

So, work at the school - my contract came through with the official title of Youth Worker, so a new one to add to the CV. I have a very loose job description as the situation with the learning centre is quite unique. The kids who come are picked up every morning from their homes by the WM who drives the school van, and then on arrival there is toast and milo available, or we had bacon and eggs one day this week. We start the day sitting in a circle for a catch up and information session or reflection and then usually break into groups after that for spelling, comprehension, writing etc and maths. By mid morning, there is morning tea passed around - biscuits or fruit, if everyone is working well, though if folk are restless we will go out onto the oval and kick a football around for some fresh air before settling to a bit more work and then lunch, which we make. We have had barbequed sausages, pizza, pies, toasted sandwhiches , spaghetti bolognaise - again the WM tends to do a lot of the food prep inbetween her office duties and helping in the classroom. Claire from Tardun - a trained teacher, is also giving a hand for the next 13 weeks. On Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoons the kids go to a gym, the other afternoons it may be sandboarding in the dunes, watching a movie, going fishing, doing some art, playing card games etc as the school finishes at 2.30pm and then they are dropped home again. There are about 17 kids on the books with an average of 10 - 12 turning up each day. All of the kids who attend have been kicked out of other schools or have not been attending at all with most involved with youth justice in some way or other. Although the ages range from 12 yrs - 16yrs, their school age level is around 7 and 8yrs for most of them. There is a lot of one to one work in the classroom, as the WMH has gone back to basics so we are doing primary school work, in short bursts to keep plugging away at the basics but also so that the work can be achieved while building confidence at the same time. Some of these kids can avoid for Africa, lol and the tactics they employ for not doing work are many and varied, but even in the nearly three weeks that I have been there, I can see some positive changes in some of them. Most of the kids are indigenous so it is very like Tardun in that respect. There are four principles that the school runs on - safe and legal, respect, honesty, and participation, and any behaviour that falls short of those principles is dealt with (a few in the last weeks, ending up with "the talk" from me, which can be much worse than a number of other consequences that could be put in place). Some of the background stories on these kids would make your hair curl so in the main, the last weeks for me have been an exercise in building relationships with my main focus being help in the classroom. The WMH gives me grief about my age and being a Kiwi and he gets as good as he gives, which the kids enjoy and as participation is one of the principles, they have seen me out of the field, kicking a football (I know, and I kid you not, who would have thought, laughing lots), NOT being able to do suduko, struggling to explain fractions but being ok, mostly at English. It is a salutory experience to work with kids who do not know what sounds various animals or birds make (an exercise in English yesterday), who are learning to spell words they have no idea of what they mean or how to use them, and virtually nil general knowledge. Many of them have not been out of Geraldton or those that have, have not been far. I am using primmer readers (year 1 and 2) with a couple of the boys and they stumble on some very basic words. The good thing is that there is improvement but how or if they ever catch up to regular schooling, is yet to be tested. I do not think one of them reads or has read a book for pleasure. In the last two weeks we have got kids to stop ripping up work or throwing it away because it is several pages long, and to concentrate on doing just the first question, or the first sum. One of the comprehensions was about Pompeii with the two or three higher level kids and you realise how hard it is for them when they have no idea what AD means (Pompeii was buried in 79 AD), that a flotilla is a group of boats, what archaeology is, where Italy, Naples and Pompeii are, etc etc, so to answer questions on the piece of reading, I had to decode it before we began. I took my laptop in the next day as I had photos from when I visited Pompeii four years ago, and that interested a few of them. On a positive note, we have a couple of girls who are eating their work up, complaining all the way, but there is a group who have turned up nearly every day since the term began so are starting to get some basic concepts under their belts so to speak.

Back at the fast food job, things are moving apace there too. I seldom need help anymore with the till, which has almost become my friend. My biggest stumbling block at the moment is that people ask for sundaes and my ears hear shake as in milk shake and that is what they get. At the worst, it happened three times in the one shift, and even when I checked (I thought) twice, the other night, I still got it wrong. Am now watching lips when they speak, lol and being VERY careful to check what I am hearing, lol. We have had numerous challenges with running out of product several times in the last few weeks which makes for interesting shifts, trying to get out large quantities of food etc when things are missing. Several nights, I have spent hours on the fryer moving at eye watering speed, we have been so busy. Usually, it takes me around 20 - 30 mins to go from no fries bagged or ready, to enough to cover any order with fries already cooked and waiting, while dropping baskets of fries constantly, salting them and bagging them to replace those being taken. The other night, it was 3 hours before I could get to that state and that was with other staff helping to drop baskets, and keeping the chiller filled with chips. I have been doing the odd twirl in drive through, both as cashier and presenter - handing the completed orders through the final window. That is frenetic work which is good when product is ready to go but a nightmare when you run out of fries or product is slow from the kitchen.

Two weeks ago our big Shrek promotion started in conjunction with the release of Shrek 4 at the movies. There is an ogre burger (with pesto mayonaise), an ogre wrap (ditto) and an ogre freeze - which is an apple slushy and is divine. It has the taste of apple sour which was a cocktail mix we used to put together with vodka and lemonade for a summer drink, lol - without the alcohol of course. I have become very partial to the drink and have a wrap most days I work as I love the pesto sauce with the chicken. As part of the promotion, I was given a pair of Shrek ears - which are green ears on a band to wear over my hat - a sight to behold indeed. I am amazed at how many people want them, I have been offered money even to give them up. While cashiering a guy came through in a taxi (very common in this town) and called me Mrs Shrek, - I told him it was Princess Mrs Shrek to him, thank you very much, which left him in fits of laughter. I get waves from little kids and they get a buzz from seeing them and happy meals with the Shrek toys in are walking out the door. On top of that, Malteaser sundaes came out last week, and go figure, in the middle of winter, the frozen drinks and sundaes are also walking out the door. The other interesting thing I have noted whilst being a cashier, is how many people come through drive through in their pyjamas, and even into the the shop later in the evenings. Some have begun to wear dressing gowns in the colder weather, but oh my gosh, did their mother's never tell them about the correct attire to wear while out in case they ended up in an accident, laughing lots.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for this term so it will be bliss to have just the one job for a few days. Co-incidentally, my hours have finally dropped at the FF place as I was not thinking that far forward re the rosters, so will take the shorter hours and enjoy them though will do extra if called in to cover other shifts I guess. This week the kids got to go out on a sailing boat in the harbour and that may become a regular thing next term as the chap who runs the enterprise is keen to get these kids knowing how to sail, do knots etc, so may adjust my hours to go out on that which would be fun. Today we spent the morning at the library as most of these kids have never been inside one, so we are thinking of getting them all joined for next term so we can get reading books out and keep them at school to increase their word skills.

Amongst all the craziness of work," Australia's got Talent" finished up with my favourite group Justice Crew winning $250,000. I urge you to You tube them as I think they are wonderful. " Dancing with the Stars" started on Sunday night and "Packed to the Rafters" on Tuesday night (it is taped and have yet to see the 2 hour special to start the new season). I sat up last night and watched Wimbledon tennis semi finals I think it was, where Serena Williams beat the Chinese player - missed her first name but second name Li I think, and tonight Federer is playing someone called Berdych. As Federer usually plays marathon games, I will not be staying up to see the end. I am backing him, as I like him as a sportsman. And while speaking of sport - go the NZ All Whites - I have seen fleeting mentions here and there that they drew one game and were to play Italy was the last I heard. The other exciting part of the World Cup is that NZ"s Fifa referee grew up for a period of time down the road from us at Kariaotahi, and there he is on the world stage - an amazing achievement indeed.

Interesting things about house sitting - rubbish days - I realise it is probably 15 yrs since I had to put a rubbish bin out on the road - while at both boarding schools, our bins were outside the door and magically seemed to empty on a regular basis with no effort to put out and get back in. Mowing lawns - it is probably three years since I last mowed a lawn, thankfully the lawn mower here is fairly basic so all good there. Feeding myself is interesting - I went to buy something for dinner and nearly keeled over at the price of meat - it seems to have significantly risen in the nearly 9 months since I last bought any. Vegetables and fruit remain seasonal and go up and down depending on the weather etc where it is grown. Biggest excitement was finding tamarillos or tree tomatoes at Coles - $1.99 each!!!!!!! I checked and the last one (I have bought three over the past three weeks) said product of Australia but no one over here knows what they are, so imagine they are coming in from the East. I dropped the last one in a cup of boiling water so the skin basically fell off it when I peeled it, not wasting any flesh, lol, then on the freshest of bread, I made a tamarillo sandwhich woohooo, with a sprinkling of sugar on the fruit and straight away was whisked back to childhood when Mum's mother, Nana Dot, used to make them for us. There is nothing quite like it and I can still picture eating these sandwhiches on the train as we made the trip from Papatoetoe to Auckland, where we caught the ferry to Devonport to visit Nana Dot's sister, Aunty Marg. As they fruit in NZ in the autumn/winter, they are also linked for me to the May holidays of old when our tree would be covered in them and we would be hanging out for them to ripen. One last thing I have noticed this week once again, - there are no birds over here like sparrows or anything that eats bread or scraps thrown out. I thew a loaf of bread out on the lawn last week, and three days later, it was still all there, not a bird in sight - very wierd after being at home where you almost have to check your hand if you have bread in it, there are so many birds to eat it up. And though we are on the coast, sea gulls seem to stick to the foreshore only. In the end, I mowed over it all when I did the lawn, and now will leave it to the ants, to dispose of the crumbs, lol. Anyway I am up far too late again and need to get some sleep, school and work tomorrow, ouch, though maybe able to get an hour's nap in the afternoon. Catch you later.

Bits and Pieces

I have a day off and have done the best of things on a day off, which is not a lot. Work has been absolutely hectic, a ship in town, half term for all the schools, a long weekend, need I say more. My feet are worn down to the knee caps after several shifts where there has been no pause from go to woah except for the obligatory 30 mins meal break which has meant seven/eight hours solidly on my feet, at some pace I might add - not a picture many of you would automatically think of when you think of me heh heh. I awoke this morning to feet that were tingling with a slight burning sensation still, hence my excuse for not using them much today.

Am now able to stock up the shake and ice cream machine at work without blinking an eyelid and have graduated to filling the syrup containers for the shakes which is an interesting experience in itself. The syrups are in milk can type (small)containers with lids that push in before you lift them to then clamp shut. Could not work them out at all to begin with but again, can now laugh in the face of such trickery. I can more or less get 4 icecreams in a row looking somewhat the same without too much difference in width and height (two and a half swirls no more no less, lol) - I say four because we have little cardboard holders that hold four at a time and at 50c each they are a great buy for all ages and stages.



It was the WMH's birthday earlier in the week but the day passed in a blur and no one has had pause yet to have a birthday feast to celebrate. He got to work his day job and evening job so the family gave him his gifts first thing and I (unorganised completely) gave him his around 11pm that night as we debriefed the day and watched Australia's Got Talent's last semi final. Have to say the punk rocker bagpipe player that had flames coming out of the bagpipes caught my attention for this round. Once again, I am amazed by the talent out in the masses, and think there will be several who will not win the competition but may go ahead and be wildly successful in spite of it, because of their exposure in this competition. For me, the comments from the judges is half the fun of watching too. Kyle Sandilands is a bad boy DJ and TV host who fell from grace from another channel, and is the Mr Nasty on the panel, Danni Minogue is the (very pregant female) on the bench and then there is Bryan McFadden, (I think ex Boyz Own band, and Irish to boot) who with his accent and sense of humour plays the straight guy to Kyle's Mr Nasty. Have also been looking at Britain's Got Talent, and America's Got Talent on You Tube and there are some amazing people on those shows as well and with Simon Cowell as one of the judges, you know you are going to get biting comments from him also.


Had a completely new experience last week - the boys of the house do a pamplet run twice a week to earn pocket money. I have driven the ute dropping them here and there etc twice before so have got to know their particular pamphlet drop area of town reasonably well. ( It is also the area where I found my car). I arrived home on Wednesday to find the WM and WMH still not home at 5pm, therefore no pamphlets delivered. So without further ado, we loaded up my car poste haste and off we went as it was going to rain and was getting dark as well. I dropped the boys at one point and parked my car at a cross road then went off down two roads delivering a bundle myself. Things I have noticed - footpaths do not exist in Geraldton - I was in boots and thought I would be lucky to escape without tripping or falling at some time during the exercise due to the extremely undulating ground - no nicely mowed grassy berms here and I would have to say from an ex- postie's perspective, I would not have delivered mail to half the mail boxes on this run as they are knee high to a grass hopper off the ground, made of brick mostly and with very narrow slits for mail. There were many houses with no junk mail on the letter boxes, woohoo, except that did not cut the walking down as still had to go to the ends of the road, where junk mail was accepted in each situation. I started off fully rugged up with fleecy jumper on and after first road was completed, was down to shirt and very warm and cosy in that. There were so many houses with unfinished construction going on, lumps of concrete, scrub for garden (it seemed) and a lot of just plain dirt frontages due to the nature of the climate over here. There was one or two dogs that barked as I went by and one smallish terrier that I longed to lift mid air with the toe of my boot, but other than that it was a relatively hound free area, or they were all under control, lol . At 6pm, the cavalry arrived and the last part of the job was done in a trice - I figured I walked between 1 and 2 miles so felt very virtuous and more than ready to devour the chicken wraps we had for dinner to replenish my expended energy. I was more than happy to have got there and back without a twisted or broken ankle in sight or more damage to my knees from falling over, lol.


Got back from that outing to find an email from sister Kay telling me of a an ex Waiuku bloke who had been shot dead at a party in front of his wife and daughter at his daughter's housewarming in Queensland (Australia) after an arguement with the next door neighbour according to the newspaper reports. Brent owned an antique shop in Waiuku that Kay and I used to frequent on a regular basis. He knew I collected Sylvac china and made sure to have one or two pieces always on hand it seemed to tempt money from my wallet or better still money from Kay's wallet around my birthday or Christmas times. He was a fount of knowledge on china. I started my collection of Johnson Bros Playtime china when I found a dessert plate in the midst of other china in his shop - this was the set our Grandmother had several bits of with nonsensical creatures featured on it when we were children (and yes they did have china plates in those days, lol) . I also found a small milk jug and sugar bowl with the Kentish Hotel depicted and Waiuku named on it which would have been souvineer china back in the day. As I dithered to spend more than I wanted to that day, Brent patiently waited while I wandered about the town, holding it for me, knowing before I did, that I would take it, lol. It was a loss to the town when he closed his shop and moved to Oz, and now a bigger loss to his family and friends. RIP Brent.



We have had more rain - we are now up to the 8th lot or 9th day of rain for the year and have had to resort to the dryer to dry clothes more than once - only uniform mind you as there is a quick turn around from afternoon/evening shift to morning shift which in the height of summer is no problem. I now have two woollen blankets on the bed plus a duvet which everyone here thinks is crazy but I am cosy and warm, and when it does get over warm, at least I can kick things off. Out out Mullewa, Tardun and environs, seeding for wheat is going on and there are a lot of thanks from the farming community for the rain out there.


Well, it is offical, I am now in the pool for employment with the Child Protection Department - I received an emial on Friday which will be followed up with a letter which I guess will explain exactly what that means. I think I can be called up for casual work as and when they need but watch this space and I am sure all will be revealed.



I did a lightening trip down to Dongara on Thursday to have lunch with Jude - because I could, now I have a car, woohoo. I was very pleased as the car flew down and back with the petrol guage hardly moving. Petrol is $1.34 litre or was where I stopped, I think it was a Gull petrol station and I did not get my 4c off I would have got if I had stopped at the Woolworths BP petrol back in town , which I get by using my Woolies card. I now also get flying points for Qantas on my Woolies card if I spend $30 or more so try to wait until I need a few things now to make it worth while. I received my RAC and hbf cards in the mail the other day, and think I may need a small suitcase instead of a wallet to cope with all the cards I am accumulating. I have taken all my NZ cards out so I can shut my wallet lol. How did we manage before plastic cards for everything??


It is Queen's Birthday in NZ and therefore a long weekend, - here it is Foundation Day which gives everyone the day off on Monday (except those in fast food enterprises, garages and IGA's lol). I am not working so will not get double time but am ok with that or rather my feet are very ok with that. I am not sure what tomorrow will bring, I may have run out of procrastination and excuses and get back into my assignments that have taken a bit of a back seat lately. I may have to go out and have a coffee at Geraldton's newest coffee shop as the franchaise "Dome" has opened here. There is a Dome at Perth airport, and yes, I have a coffee card from them and am now due a free coffee, woohoo. They do food as well, not budget but not bank breaking and do cafe style foods and drinks. It has been built along the waterfront which has been completely redevloped in the two and a half years I have been over here.

It is time for some shut eye - had a coffee while watching telly tonight so am wide awake on one level but the body is flagging I think. Hope the NZ readers have had a great weekend. I am noticing there are storms and flooding throughout the country and am not envious of the weather you are having :):):), but at least the shops are open 7 days a week, so life cannot be all bad, lol.