Me and Simon are not well at the moment, having both had really bad coughs, which has now started to get better. Simon has done his back in, i think its from an injury a while back and is now having problems moving, he seems to be getting slowly better now.
Was chatting with Frederick (the german) the other night and it turns out that he is one of 13 brothers and sisters, doesnt quite beat Simons dads but nearly. Fred is the oldest boy and the youngest is 5. Fred is very much into the Hillsong Church and doesnt drink (to get drunk), and is looking for a girlfriend for life. I wonder if he only believes in sex after marriage, ive not asked him but i wonder. He was asking me about my relationship with Simon and he said that he thinks Simon is great, and he looks up to him (he is about 5 foot 10 so im not sure how that works :-) ) as he likes Simons temperament and how nice Simon is. (I know Simon hates the word nice but Frederick has limited english so thats the best he can do)
Mum is coming here next Friday, so we are trying to sort out the apartment and get things tidy. I confused the guys by which weekend she was arriving so they have been slowly tidying the apartment up and worrying about how she will cope. They keep asking whether she will cook (i think them being Brazilian means that they have mommas that spend their life cooking). My answer to this was ehrrrr very unlikely but she might clean :-) . Love u mum.
Pete has now come back to the office from San Francisco so the dynamics of the company is gonna change now, instead of it just being 3 of us in the office its now 6. One being the dog called Bruce and the other being Petes wife who is preggers but at least its someone i *think* is more on my wave length. Im having the problem whereby they are just too intellectural for me, and what they consider as an interesting topic of conversation just goes way over my head. They either talk about Politics, environment, religion (they all seem to be athiests) or really high level geek talk. Ive decided that the guys are like the Paris Hiltons of the geek world, very into the new buzz words, any new technologies etc.
Went out last night with Joesphine and found out that shes pregnant. It turns out that she had been messing around with the pill, and thought she might be pregnant but she actually wasnt, but at that stage she thought she was so they therefore didnt take protection and therefore she has become pregnant. Her and Nick seen to be really pleased though and are making plans for the future. Its going to be an intriguing looking baby because she is swedish and he is half chinese, half fijian. Im curious though as to who this relationship is gonna go because they have only been going out with each other a couple of months and they are continuously arguing.
Seems like a nice day today so i think i might go to the beach. Si is off to the pictures wanting to watch 300 but.. has lumbered himself watching Mr Bean with Gustavo instead. 300 is not on till next week.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Clock and Fact fans!
With the clocks going forward for you UK guys and backwards for us Poms here, we're now only 9 hours ahead of you :) Which should make it a lot easier for us to speak with you. However, it takes us quite a bit longer though to figure out what time it is in the UK though.
Well, it was pub quiz again tonight. It's every Tuesday and Bondi's surf club, which is a bit like a labour club in England, but for surfers :) geese. Anyway, we shall endeavor to put our pub quiz results up every week...a bit like Andreas weight which, i think, has been pretty absent recently. I think the scales are playing up at the moment, that's for both of us by the way, not just Andrea :)
Anyway, we had the who wants to be a millionaire guy and his team there tonight, and also a return of the team who ALWAYS wins (everyone actually boos when their team name is called out). At the end of round one, we were actually 1st with 38 out of 40 with a three point lead of the nearest team!!! We we're pretty speechless and celebrated with some (more) beer :) It went to our heads though (both the beer and us coming 1st) because the in second round we fell apart and ended up third overall. (65 out of 80) Even the quiz master said "what the hell happened there?!?"
I must admit, I've been to a lot of pub quizzes in my time, at this is by far the most entertaining. There's a lot of free drink on offer with intervals that say "the first person to bring the answer to me to this question gets $10's of beer". He tricks people sometimes though and says the "first 5 people with the correct answer..." Tonights was that the five suckers had to tell their favourite joke to everyone and the audience laughs were the verdict. Andrea was particularly tickled by the "What's brown and sticky?"...
..."a stick!"
She said that was her joke and continued to laugh and cheer to it :)
Anyway, sat here in the living room i see that we've lost two washing machines and gained another one !! woo ;( That's pretty much it for tonight.
Well, it was pub quiz again tonight. It's every Tuesday and Bondi's surf club, which is a bit like a labour club in England, but for surfers :) geese. Anyway, we shall endeavor to put our pub quiz results up every week...a bit like Andreas weight which, i think, has been pretty absent recently. I think the scales are playing up at the moment, that's for both of us by the way, not just Andrea :)
Anyway, we had the who wants to be a millionaire guy and his team there tonight, and also a return of the team who ALWAYS wins (everyone actually boos when their team name is called out). At the end of round one, we were actually 1st with 38 out of 40 with a three point lead of the nearest team!!! We we're pretty speechless and celebrated with some (more) beer :) It went to our heads though (both the beer and us coming 1st) because the in second round we fell apart and ended up third overall. (65 out of 80) Even the quiz master said "what the hell happened there?!?"
I must admit, I've been to a lot of pub quizzes in my time, at this is by far the most entertaining. There's a lot of free drink on offer with intervals that say "the first person to bring the answer to me to this question gets $10's of beer". He tricks people sometimes though and says the "first 5 people with the correct answer..." Tonights was that the five suckers had to tell their favourite joke to everyone and the audience laughs were the verdict. Andrea was particularly tickled by the "What's brown and sticky?"...
..."a stick!"
She said that was her joke and continued to laugh and cheer to it :)
Anyway, sat here in the living room i see that we've lost two washing machines and gained another one !! woo ;( That's pretty much it for tonight.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Who wants to beat, who wants to be a millionaire man?
Me and Si are both ill this weekend, i think we have a chest infection, Si just thinks we have got a common boring cold.
We went to quiz night with Nick from work on Tuesday. We came 2nd and won $25 worth of beer. I was happy as i finally answered a question that was fairly tricky. 'What was a girl called Louise born in Manchester famous for, when born in 1977?' and aparently the team that won had a guy who had won 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' on there team.
Simon is studing at the moment to do an exam. He decided that he might as well do something really productive and do this exam. So he is busy with that. He also went to a Ruby on Rails geek meeting the other night with Nick who i work with. Always knew he was a true geek at heart.
Im back at work now, back on the train. Im busy reading my book again. I love Jilly Cooper, nothing like a risky book to wake up in the morning whilst sat on the bus and train.
Last Sunday we did the harbour bridge walk. It was the 75th Anniversary so it was a very special day with 1000;s of people walking over it, we felt very honoured to be doing this. We got to walk over it where the cars normally are. I of course was unhappy because we saw everyone with bright green caps on that they had been giving out all day but when we got there they had none left and then as we walked slowly taking many pictures of the bridge, the people behind us all appeared with yellow caps with a light on it (it was starting to get dark now) , i did try and walk back to get 2 but it was just to far to walk back. So me and Simon then looked like the odd ones out because we didnt have a cap on. I admit they looked really tacky but i still wanted one. Now apparently they are going on ebay, i knew it would be a collectors item.
Last Saturday we had an action packed evening. 1st we went for a meal at an italian, and then we went to the pictures and watched Hot Fuzz (very funny) and then we came home at about 110clock and we went out with Gustavo and the Slovakians, who left on Thursday. Gustavo got drunk and i think slept in the toilet, the Slovakians were drunk and kept wanting us to dance. They would grab hold of Simons hands and hold hands with him whilst dancing. Very funny. This is the most conversation that we have had with the Slovs and even then it was only for a couple of sentances.
However the Slovs in particularly the fat one, crossed the line in that they went on a night out, and he came back really drunk and came into our bedroom whilst we were asleep turned the light out and then went into our bathroom (note has all my girly stuff all over the place). Once finished he then started to walk further into our room, he did however see Simon give him a dirty look and just turned around and walked out. Im glad i wasnt on my own, needless to say im so glad they have now left. Its just Gustavo, Frederick, and Daniel now.
Daniel has a new girlfriend, and he seems to find great delight in saying to Simon, oh we should have a competition as to who can have the most fun in the bedroom. He is talking about his 18 year old brazillian girl who doesnt speak any english, who always comes in and sits next to me and gives me a fierce kiss and a hug, shes also here in secret as her mum wouldnt like her to be in his bedroom. Shes sweet i just dont understand her. Hes like a Brazilian del boy, but hes such a nice lad though and at least we now only have 2 washing machines in the apartment and really nice brown leather sofa which unfortunatly is up for sale.
At the moment just watching a film 'about a boy' whilst teaching Gustavo how to make a fahiti. Hes been buying tortillas and using them as pizza bases.
We went to quiz night with Nick from work on Tuesday. We came 2nd and won $25 worth of beer. I was happy as i finally answered a question that was fairly tricky. 'What was a girl called Louise born in Manchester famous for, when born in 1977?' and aparently the team that won had a guy who had won 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' on there team.
Simon is studing at the moment to do an exam. He decided that he might as well do something really productive and do this exam. So he is busy with that. He also went to a Ruby on Rails geek meeting the other night with Nick who i work with. Always knew he was a true geek at heart.
Im back at work now, back on the train. Im busy reading my book again. I love Jilly Cooper, nothing like a risky book to wake up in the morning whilst sat on the bus and train.
Last Sunday we did the harbour bridge walk. It was the 75th Anniversary so it was a very special day with 1000;s of people walking over it, we felt very honoured to be doing this. We got to walk over it where the cars normally are. I of course was unhappy because we saw everyone with bright green caps on that they had been giving out all day but when we got there they had none left and then as we walked slowly taking many pictures of the bridge, the people behind us all appeared with yellow caps with a light on it (it was starting to get dark now) , i did try and walk back to get 2 but it was just to far to walk back. So me and Simon then looked like the odd ones out because we didnt have a cap on. I admit they looked really tacky but i still wanted one. Now apparently they are going on ebay, i knew it would be a collectors item.
Last Saturday we had an action packed evening. 1st we went for a meal at an italian, and then we went to the pictures and watched Hot Fuzz (very funny) and then we came home at about 110clock and we went out with Gustavo and the Slovakians, who left on Thursday. Gustavo got drunk and i think slept in the toilet, the Slovakians were drunk and kept wanting us to dance. They would grab hold of Simons hands and hold hands with him whilst dancing. Very funny. This is the most conversation that we have had with the Slovs and even then it was only for a couple of sentances.
However the Slovs in particularly the fat one, crossed the line in that they went on a night out, and he came back really drunk and came into our bedroom whilst we were asleep turned the light out and then went into our bathroom (note has all my girly stuff all over the place). Once finished he then started to walk further into our room, he did however see Simon give him a dirty look and just turned around and walked out. Im glad i wasnt on my own, needless to say im so glad they have now left. Its just Gustavo, Frederick, and Daniel now.
Daniel has a new girlfriend, and he seems to find great delight in saying to Simon, oh we should have a competition as to who can have the most fun in the bedroom. He is talking about his 18 year old brazillian girl who doesnt speak any english, who always comes in and sits next to me and gives me a fierce kiss and a hug, shes also here in secret as her mum wouldnt like her to be in his bedroom. Shes sweet i just dont understand her. Hes like a Brazilian del boy, but hes such a nice lad though and at least we now only have 2 washing machines in the apartment and really nice brown leather sofa which unfortunatly is up for sale.
At the moment just watching a film 'about a boy' whilst teaching Gustavo how to make a fahiti. Hes been buying tortillas and using them as pizza bases.
Friday, March 16, 2007
A grand day out
Last Sunday, Andrea and I hired a car for the day to get out of the city. We've only actually left the city once before and that was the trip to the blue mountains. This time we were gonna head to Palm Beach, or rather Summer Bay for all you Home and Away fans.
We aimed to get the cheapest car available which was a Hyundai thing, we were pleasantly surprised when we went to pick it up 'cause we got an upgrade to a bigger Hyundai thing :) woo ! The only problem was, was it was an automatic. Andrea and I differ on opinions over these, Andrea likes them 'cause there's "less to do" so she can concentrate on more important things like singing and putting on her makeup. I on the other had, being the seasoned rally driver that I am, prefer a little more control. Anyway, that's immaterial as I was the designated driver for the day.
After about a week of rubbish weather the sun came out just for us. The first place we stopped of at (for food) was a place just North of Sydney called Dee Why. It was a nice family beach with the topless ladies relegated to sunbathing on the rocks...unless of course they were mermaids. We stopped off at a little cafe for some breakfast and did some people watching. Incidentally, and you'll see more later, this has been the start of Andrea's food woes. She never had a great breakfast, but it was ok.
Leaving here we then went to Narrabeen beach for a quick nosey. We've heard a lot about this place since arriving here as its the choice beach for surfers. There are quite often surfing championships here. Getting fed up with all this stop starting we decided to go to Palm beach for a bit of sun worshipping. The beach is lovely, it's on a peninsula, pretty much unspoilt, big, and not many people about. The surfers were out in force and the waves were amazing. We brought the classy body board with us that Andrea got me for Christmas. We had much better luck with it this time compared to Manly... I must of surfed about 40 feet this time on one of the waves ! The waves must of been around 12 feet tall and when they're about to crash down on you it can be quite daunting, especially for Andrea who was probably trying to keep her hair dry.
The lifeguard hut / cafe was funny as the club official was Alf Stewart. Even the buggies that the life guards use to go up and down the beach were blazoned with "Summer Bay Rescue"..teehee. After getting a bit of a tan and a soaking we left Palm beach behind to go to Manly for a bit of food. This part of the trip was planned by the way, Kebab meat and chips (lots of chilli sauce). Andrea had been really looking forward to this, more so now 'cause of the lacklustre breakfast. We got the food and then sat down to eat it on the sea front, she got about a 1/3 of the way through it when a seagull came along and pooed in her food and on her head. She was pretty gutted, even though I told her that it was considered lucky.
Leaving Manly, Andrea took over the wheel and we went to a cracking pub in Watson Bay for a drink whilst watching the sunset. Getting back, Andrea was surprised to discover that she'd won £10 on the uk online lottery !....Hooray for seagull poo !
We aimed to get the cheapest car available which was a Hyundai thing, we were pleasantly surprised when we went to pick it up 'cause we got an upgrade to a bigger Hyundai thing :) woo ! The only problem was, was it was an automatic. Andrea and I differ on opinions over these, Andrea likes them 'cause there's "less to do" so she can concentrate on more important things like singing and putting on her makeup. I on the other had, being the seasoned rally driver that I am, prefer a little more control. Anyway, that's immaterial as I was the designated driver for the day.
After about a week of rubbish weather the sun came out just for us. The first place we stopped of at (for food) was a place just North of Sydney called Dee Why. It was a nice family beach with the topless ladies relegated to sunbathing on the rocks...unless of course they were mermaids. We stopped off at a little cafe for some breakfast and did some people watching. Incidentally, and you'll see more later, this has been the start of Andrea's food woes. She never had a great breakfast, but it was ok.
Leaving here we then went to Narrabeen beach for a quick nosey. We've heard a lot about this place since arriving here as its the choice beach for surfers. There are quite often surfing championships here. Getting fed up with all this stop starting we decided to go to Palm beach for a bit of sun worshipping. The beach is lovely, it's on a peninsula, pretty much unspoilt, big, and not many people about. The surfers were out in force and the waves were amazing. We brought the classy body board with us that Andrea got me for Christmas. We had much better luck with it this time compared to Manly... I must of surfed about 40 feet this time on one of the waves ! The waves must of been around 12 feet tall and when they're about to crash down on you it can be quite daunting, especially for Andrea who was probably trying to keep her hair dry.
The lifeguard hut / cafe was funny as the club official was Alf Stewart. Even the buggies that the life guards use to go up and down the beach were blazoned with "Summer Bay Rescue"..teehee. After getting a bit of a tan and a soaking we left Palm beach behind to go to Manly for a bit of food. This part of the trip was planned by the way, Kebab meat and chips (lots of chilli sauce). Andrea had been really looking forward to this, more so now 'cause of the lacklustre breakfast. We got the food and then sat down to eat it on the sea front, she got about a 1/3 of the way through it when a seagull came along and pooed in her food and on her head. She was pretty gutted, even though I told her that it was considered lucky.
Leaving Manly, Andrea took over the wheel and we went to a cracking pub in Watson Bay for a drink whilst watching the sunset. Getting back, Andrea was surprised to discover that she'd won £10 on the uk online lottery !....Hooray for seagull poo !
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Its a hard life traveling to work
Ive been working from home for the past week, its great. I get up sit on the balcony for a bit, read my book and at 9oclock give Simon a kiss goodbye and walk into the dining room, past the fridges and washing machines and sit down at my computer. I then clock in on messenger and say hi to people from work and then go back in and chat with Simon. Naw seriously, i have probably worked harder at home because i feel guilty but it is nice not having to spend 2 hours a day travelling.
Hill song Church. The apartment block is full of people from this church. We are beginning to feel a little ambushed. Last week i went downstairs and signed for a parcel. There was a guy there signing for a parcel so we got chatting in the lift. His Dad was from York and he knew Manchester, he then told me he was studying. I said oh yes where. Hill song Church. He then unpacked his parcel which was about 4 boooks about Christianity. I started to run out of the lift when he invited me to the Church. The next day Frederick asked me if we wanted to go to this music concert they were holding for like 20k people next week, i was like damn cant go its on the same day as the Sydney bridge walk and then the other day Frederick finally asked me did we want to go to the Church on Sat night. I said No, and then it was the questions why. I said i just dont want to go, i was brave. Simon was keeping his head down i think, he has nearly been cornered before and got away with it.
Finally went belly dancing this week, and went for a second class and was late so ended up in a Samba class instead. It was actually really good and i did question the fact that whilst i love belly dancing the teachers always have big fat bellys whilst the Samba teacher was really thin. Im trying to convince Si to go breakdance or popping classes.
Weight progress 66k im losing weight very slowly but its happening. At least when i went to the office i was walking all the time which seemed to be helping.
Mums booked to come and see us in April, cant wait. Counting the days for Mum and Easter Eggs. We are all gonna go up to the Whitsunday Islands.
Embarassing moment of the week. I was sat at my desk in the dining room and thought only Simon was in the bedroom (hes learning JAVA at the mo), so had headphones on humming to music. I then progressively got louder and start singing out of tune because i thought i was on my own, only for Fred to walk out of his bedroom, he had been napping and i had woken him up with my awful singing. I was very embarrassed.
Hill song Church. The apartment block is full of people from this church. We are beginning to feel a little ambushed. Last week i went downstairs and signed for a parcel. There was a guy there signing for a parcel so we got chatting in the lift. His Dad was from York and he knew Manchester, he then told me he was studying. I said oh yes where. Hill song Church. He then unpacked his parcel which was about 4 boooks about Christianity. I started to run out of the lift when he invited me to the Church. The next day Frederick asked me if we wanted to go to this music concert they were holding for like 20k people next week, i was like damn cant go its on the same day as the Sydney bridge walk and then the other day Frederick finally asked me did we want to go to the Church on Sat night. I said No, and then it was the questions why. I said i just dont want to go, i was brave. Simon was keeping his head down i think, he has nearly been cornered before and got away with it.
Finally went belly dancing this week, and went for a second class and was late so ended up in a Samba class instead. It was actually really good and i did question the fact that whilst i love belly dancing the teachers always have big fat bellys whilst the Samba teacher was really thin. Im trying to convince Si to go breakdance or popping classes.
Weight progress 66k im losing weight very slowly but its happening. At least when i went to the office i was walking all the time which seemed to be helping.
Mums booked to come and see us in April, cant wait. Counting the days for Mum and Easter Eggs. We are all gonna go up to the Whitsunday Islands.
Embarassing moment of the week. I was sat at my desk in the dining room and thought only Simon was in the bedroom (hes learning JAVA at the mo), so had headphones on humming to music. I then progressively got louder and start singing out of tune because i thought i was on my own, only for Fred to walk out of his bedroom, he had been napping and i had woken him up with my awful singing. I was very embarrassed.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Sunday Night Fever
An interesting weekend, although nothing much happened. Andrea woke up early on Saturday to get to Coogee beach to catch some rays, she was determined not to miss the slightest bit of sun. Saturday evening we went to Josephine's and Nick's place (gorgeous dual level apartment by the way) for a bite to eat. Nick's a very good cook, but admitted that it was a Jamie Oliver recipe :) We also found out that it was the Mardi Gras here in Sydney on Saturday night (we heard the dykes on bikes fly past), along with another, probably very pink, firework display that we missed but heard.
Anyway, yesterday the weather got really hot again, even Andrea admitted that she was struggling with the heat, which is something coming from a sun worshipper like her ;) There was nothing on TV last night and i was a bit stuck as to what to do, luckily mother nature provided the solution.
The storm started at around 8 and went right through till around 1 in the morning. Being so high on this apartment complex pretty much gave us a 180 degree view of Sydney and this storm. Personally, I have never seen such an intense lightning storm, it was practically daylight ! There was also a few explosions in the distance thrown in for good measure too. Have a browse around the reader photos for the pictures. My favourites are these...
http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2007/03/05/1172943308776.html
and
http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2007/03/05/1172943309507.html
Sleep tight all.
Anyway, yesterday the weather got really hot again, even Andrea admitted that she was struggling with the heat, which is something coming from a sun worshipper like her ;) There was nothing on TV last night and i was a bit stuck as to what to do, luckily mother nature provided the solution.
The storm started at around 8 and went right through till around 1 in the morning. Being so high on this apartment complex pretty much gave us a 180 degree view of Sydney and this storm. Personally, I have never seen such an intense lightning storm, it was practically daylight ! There was also a few explosions in the distance thrown in for good measure too. Have a browse around the reader photos for the pictures. My favourites are these...
http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2007/03/05/1172943308776.html
and
http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2007/03/05/1172943309507.html
Sleep tight all.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Work, Home and Cockroaches
Since Daniel moved back in, the apartment looks like a white goods warehouse. The dining room is full of washing machines and fridge freezers that hes fixing and selling and im now working from home for the next 2 weeks at least so im sat in the dining room with them. For all i moan about the place being a mess its good fun because there is such a lot of activity, its amusing to see whats going on. The guys from work are going to America surposedly for work but they are actually going sking. Brendan my boss is going to be away for a month and Nick who helps me is away for 10 days and even then we will probably not work at the office as we both live on the other side of the bridge from where work is.
Today whilst working, I had Daniel and Mark(English guy with the scraggiest hairdo) in and out with washing machines. Daniel being only able to use 1 arm does mean that Mark has to bare the brunt of most of the weight :-). Gustavo who likes to go in the shower for about an hour, i reckon he actually goes in longer then i go in the bath. Frederick who is bored when its bad weather and is off to church to do some voluntary work. (Simon said Fred asked us if we would like to go to Church on Sat night, Simon said eh no we are busy :-) ). The 2 slovakians (no idea the names) came back and just looked at me strangly and nodded and walked past me into there little room. They are leaving in a couple of weeks which means Daniel will go into their bedroom, yipppeeee and hopefully the living room will not be full of Daniels clothes.
I forgot to mention on the previous blog that the party we went to meant we started drinking from 10.30 so thats why we ended up going to bed as we are lightweights.
Cockroaches - Samantha stop reading, and dont u dare shout at me for this.
Since starting work we discovered that there was a large amount of cockroaches in the office, and there was nests in things such as speakers. So we bought some traps for them, which consisted of a really sticky piece of card (like fly paper) littered around the office. Well there has been a cockroach count every day for the past couple of weeks and has just had us in laughter and horror because there was defo a nest in the kitchen so the one in the kitchen had about 7 adults and loads of babies. But the (samantha defo stop reading now) thing is that whilst the cockroaches walk on to the paper, they then get stuck on it but are still alive and in some cases they then give birth to their egg things, which then eventually hatch on the paper (seriously samantha do not shout at me) and all the babies pop out and proceed to get stuck on the paper. At the last count of the one in the kitchen it had about 150 cockroaches on it and it was about 10 inches by 4 inches. The one in the server room has managed to catch a big american cockroach. We did also think that between me and conor there was things around and this has been confirmed this week by suddenly cockroaches appearing in this one and also hatching. Needless to say the cockroach count has caused a lot of laughter especially because conor (who only comes in once a week) takes offense that we suggest he is bringing in the cockroaches.
We went to a Quiz night on Tuesday, Simon knew a lot of the answers and the other team members kept turning to him for the answer. We came 7th overall out of about 25 teams. My embarrassing but triumphant moment was when the question was: Which 2 actors/actresses from Beveley Hills 90210 had got married in 1992? and I got the answer correct. (Luke Perry, Shannon Doherty if your interested). Very embarrassing.
Trivia Question: Name the characters in Scooby Doos gang?
Today whilst working, I had Daniel and Mark(English guy with the scraggiest hairdo) in and out with washing machines. Daniel being only able to use 1 arm does mean that Mark has to bare the brunt of most of the weight :-). Gustavo who likes to go in the shower for about an hour, i reckon he actually goes in longer then i go in the bath. Frederick who is bored when its bad weather and is off to church to do some voluntary work. (Simon said Fred asked us if we would like to go to Church on Sat night, Simon said eh no we are busy :-) ). The 2 slovakians (no idea the names) came back and just looked at me strangly and nodded and walked past me into there little room. They are leaving in a couple of weeks which means Daniel will go into their bedroom, yipppeeee and hopefully the living room will not be full of Daniels clothes.
I forgot to mention on the previous blog that the party we went to meant we started drinking from 10.30 so thats why we ended up going to bed as we are lightweights.
Cockroaches - Samantha stop reading, and dont u dare shout at me for this.
Since starting work we discovered that there was a large amount of cockroaches in the office, and there was nests in things such as speakers. So we bought some traps for them, which consisted of a really sticky piece of card (like fly paper) littered around the office. Well there has been a cockroach count every day for the past couple of weeks and has just had us in laughter and horror because there was defo a nest in the kitchen so the one in the kitchen had about 7 adults and loads of babies. But the (samantha defo stop reading now) thing is that whilst the cockroaches walk on to the paper, they then get stuck on it but are still alive and in some cases they then give birth to their egg things, which then eventually hatch on the paper (seriously samantha do not shout at me) and all the babies pop out and proceed to get stuck on the paper. At the last count of the one in the kitchen it had about 150 cockroaches on it and it was about 10 inches by 4 inches. The one in the server room has managed to catch a big american cockroach. We did also think that between me and conor there was things around and this has been confirmed this week by suddenly cockroaches appearing in this one and also hatching. Needless to say the cockroach count has caused a lot of laughter especially because conor (who only comes in once a week) takes offense that we suggest he is bringing in the cockroaches.
We went to a Quiz night on Tuesday, Simon knew a lot of the answers and the other team members kept turning to him for the answer. We came 7th overall out of about 25 teams. My embarrassing but triumphant moment was when the question was: Which 2 actors/actresses from Beveley Hills 90210 had got married in 1992? and I got the answer correct. (Luke Perry, Shannon Doherty if your interested). Very embarrassing.
Trivia Question: Name the characters in Scooby Doos gang?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
The Coat Hanger
Just testing here...posting a picture of the bridge. By the way, Andrea travels over this bridge everyday....she hardly bats an eyelid at it now.
24/02/2007 Raving Ravin
Last weekend we went to the beach for a BBQ with people from the hillsong church. (Found some very interesting uncomfortable facts about them this weekend). This weekend we went to a dance(rave) party on a cruise along the harbour during the day. I definatly preferred this weekends choice. It was very strange going to a party at 10.30 in the morning and even stragner leaving it at 4.30 in the afternoon instead of in the evening. What it did mean that we were asleep for 9.30 after going to the afterparty for a while, which wasnt really an after party but a preliminary party before people went out for the night out. Me and Simon being the goldieoldies we are admitted defeat and went to sleep instead.
In regard to Simon leaving his job, what he didnt mention was how the next day when he left he rang the guy up and told him why he was leaving. He told him that his manner was very bullyish and he wasnt willing to have anybody talk or chat to him in this way, and he said that his racist comments to people were unacceptable and the job that was described in the interview was not the job he was being given. ie you will be a teamleader of a small project actually meant you will be the only person on a project that is in a complete mess. GO SIMON GO SIMON, i was so proud of him for telling the guy. The guy next day rang back and said ehrm that 3 days you worked, well we wont be payin you for it. Simon jsut put the phone down on him and this just proved what a cowboy the company was. He might have pinched a good well known name for the company name from england but they certainly dont act like them. Oh and the other thing to note is that Simon has to pay £800 to be sponsored to stay in Australia so he cant afford to be in a company that treat the employees like poo.
QE2 and Queen Mary in Sydney
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6378441.stm
As mum and Gran have been on these ships, and i meet them in New York when they were on the QE2 i feel i have a close connection with them. Alas i did see the Queen Mary from afar whilst sat on the train as it had arrived in the morning. But in the evening the QE2 was due in at 7. (Note i blame Simon a lot for what i have to say :-) ) so we decided to go down and watch it arrive. Simon then earwigged somebody who said its running late and due in at 7.30, we went for something to eat instead. It didnt arrive at 7.30 but 7 so when we had finished our meal we then went up on to the bridge to see that the QE2 was just about to dock so we had missed the grand arrival bit. damn.
Next we walked down to Botanical Gardens to see the fireworks that were due to happen. Now since being in Sydney the pyrotechnics capital of the world (apparently) there has been 3 big occassions for fireworks. 1 - New Years Eve, - we were there but had a rubbish view, 2 - Australia Day - we stood on the flat balcony and saw nothing but a large rocket fly past. 3 - Qe2 and QM arriving.
So we walked down to the gardens after being nearly crushed by everyone trying to do the same thing. Sydney council didnt realise people would be so enthused about seeing the ships and therefore were not organised. The botanical gardens shut at 8 and were trying to get everyone to leave but as you can get such a fantastic view (we were unsure though were the fireworks were going to go off) nobody would leave including us. That was until we got bored and decided to leave, so we left the gardens and walked down the stairs to Circular Key and then the fireworks went off, except you couldnt see a damn thing from where we were stood. I was not happy in fact i think i had a little paddy.
So 3 occassions for seeing fireworks - all been rubbish. Maybe next time.
Today is Sunday weigh day, i lost 2 kilos last week, but not been good this week. So we shall see. Wanted to go to the beach today but its really cloudy so we might go down to the OperaHouse and have a look around there.
In regard to Simon leaving his job, what he didnt mention was how the next day when he left he rang the guy up and told him why he was leaving. He told him that his manner was very bullyish and he wasnt willing to have anybody talk or chat to him in this way, and he said that his racist comments to people were unacceptable and the job that was described in the interview was not the job he was being given. ie you will be a teamleader of a small project actually meant you will be the only person on a project that is in a complete mess. GO SIMON GO SIMON, i was so proud of him for telling the guy. The guy next day rang back and said ehrm that 3 days you worked, well we wont be payin you for it. Simon jsut put the phone down on him and this just proved what a cowboy the company was. He might have pinched a good well known name for the company name from england but they certainly dont act like them. Oh and the other thing to note is that Simon has to pay £800 to be sponsored to stay in Australia so he cant afford to be in a company that treat the employees like poo.
QE2 and Queen Mary in Sydney
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/6378441.stm
As mum and Gran have been on these ships, and i meet them in New York when they were on the QE2 i feel i have a close connection with them. Alas i did see the Queen Mary from afar whilst sat on the train as it had arrived in the morning. But in the evening the QE2 was due in at 7. (Note i blame Simon a lot for what i have to say :-) ) so we decided to go down and watch it arrive. Simon then earwigged somebody who said its running late and due in at 7.30, we went for something to eat instead. It didnt arrive at 7.30 but 7 so when we had finished our meal we then went up on to the bridge to see that the QE2 was just about to dock so we had missed the grand arrival bit. damn.
Next we walked down to Botanical Gardens to see the fireworks that were due to happen. Now since being in Sydney the pyrotechnics capital of the world (apparently) there has been 3 big occassions for fireworks. 1 - New Years Eve, - we were there but had a rubbish view, 2 - Australia Day - we stood on the flat balcony and saw nothing but a large rocket fly past. 3 - Qe2 and QM arriving.
So we walked down to the gardens after being nearly crushed by everyone trying to do the same thing. Sydney council didnt realise people would be so enthused about seeing the ships and therefore were not organised. The botanical gardens shut at 8 and were trying to get everyone to leave but as you can get such a fantastic view (we were unsure though were the fireworks were going to go off) nobody would leave including us. That was until we got bored and decided to leave, so we left the gardens and walked down the stairs to Circular Key and then the fireworks went off, except you couldnt see a damn thing from where we were stood. I was not happy in fact i think i had a little paddy.
So 3 occassions for seeing fireworks - all been rubbish. Maybe next time.
Today is Sunday weigh day, i lost 2 kilos last week, but not been good this week. So we shall see. Wanted to go to the beach today but its really cloudy so we might go down to the OperaHouse and have a look around there.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Hi ho, hi ho...
Been an interesting week this week. I shall do bullet points later about this but first i'd like to talk about Frederic. He makes me laugh, he's almost stereotypically German except for the fact that he's polite and doesn't wear lederhosen. He does have a sense of humor though, but it's hard to describe. His latest one is that someone bought him a book called "The Fred Factor". Frederic almost spent the entire evening giggling to himself about it. It's got chapters called "Become a Fred", and his favourite, "Freducation". It's an almost innocent humor he has, It makes me giggle too.
Andrea's currently getting ready for a girly night out (curry), they're arriving in about 10 mins and she's has only just got out of the bath! I think they'll be waiting ;)
Back to this week. I won't mention the the company name other than it was a blue chip company from the UK. Google can be your enemy as well as your friend, as Tim knows with his constant battle to keep his "arsey" alias away from his real name ;) I might get a bit geeky here, so ignore the terminology in the tags.
Andrea's currently getting ready for a girly night out (curry), they're arriving in about 10 mins and she's has only just got out of the bath! I think they'll be waiting ;)
Back to this week. I won't mention the the company name other than it was a blue chip company from the UK. Google can be your enemy as well as your friend, as Tim knows with his constant battle to keep his "arsey" alias away from his real name ;) I might get a bit geeky here, so ignore the terminology in the
- Monday
Arrive at work, a little nervous of course with everything being new and my brain being slow from being away from computing for a while. Meet all the people, seem like a good bunch. I was given two programs to look after, one Delphi and one VB.The VB one was simple enough, just mapping stuff to other stuff. The Delphi one however was code from hell (Commonly referred to as Lee code). The entire program was only around 10000 lines long but when you compiled it it came back with half a million because of all of the third party components that they bought. Not a data structure in sight! *sigh* Anyway, after settling down a bit and getting used to the code, i start to hear things in the office. One support staff member quit on the Friday before, and the job i'm in has a very high staff turnover rate...people just keep quitting. The other thing of note was that there is nobody here that knows what i'm doing, which just slows everything down...
"Where do i get the source from?"
"dunno"
"What's server to i need to connect to?"
"dunno".
...Along with other rude comments back from the staff i'm asking too. - Tuesday
Carry on with looking at the code and start to hunt a bug in the VB program :) Then i get an instant message through from the boss...
"can you drop what your doing Simon and fix this other bug for me?"
"sure, is the problem in the Delphi or the VB program?"
"NO IT'S F**KING NOT!!...It's in a different program!"
...That was really what he said on the text. OK, the office seemed to have some sweary mouths on occasion, but on the IM, and in a way that just made me sound like i was stupid!!
As far as the other staff members were concerned, they were a bit more helpful. - Wednesday
Check my email and see that there's a "motivating" email from the boss (referring to some issue that i wasn't aware of) for all the staff saying that "...Everyone is a f**king customer, i expect 110% from all of you". This along with other more minor issues was the last straw for me. It was tantamount to bullying from the boss. - Thursday
Quit.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
19/02/2007 Maroubra Beach
Today we was invited to a BBQ organised by Gustavo and Frederick at Maroubra Beach. Frederick has a lot of friends so there was about 25 people. To be honest me and Simon were not really up for it, because he starts his job tomorrow and we were both hungover from last night. We did think it would be a drunken party but it wasnt because most of Fredericks friends are from a Church group and therefore dont seem to be drinkers. Having said that it was a nice afternoon being down at the beach. They have free barbeques at the beach so its good as u can just bring your food down there and then cook it.
When we coming home, i saw a park called Popplewell Park. I was very impressed. I looked it up on the internet though, and wasnt particular impressed. Still gonna have to visit and get my photo taken next to the sign (cos im sad like that)
http://www.sydneyclimbing.com/xgo_popplewell_park.html
Oh and Samantha im purposely putting my weight in kilos cos then nobody understands how fat i am :-) . So that you know i had a really really bad week last week (i did think the scales were wrong because i had been good) and when i got weighed this week i had lost 2 kgs (which is about 4 lbs - yippee)
Simon and I went shopping yesterday to get him some trousers for work. The 2 ladies working the shop were so helpful but at the same time sooooo annoying. Si would be in the changing room and she would be shouting to him 'just remember mens trousers are meant to be taken in', just in case he uses the excuse of they are not fitting for the reason so as not to buy them. She also shouted over to the other women saying 'are you busy' when the other women was helping a customer at the time. When Simon had finished buying them, we needed to take them to a tailors cos hes a short arse. That was a drama and half because they needed to direct us, so first she wrote the address down in great detail and then she arranged for the other women to take us to the tailors, but the other women said no because she needed the toilet, but then our women said she would take us, the other women decided that she needed the loo right now, which meant nobody minding the shop. This was after she had rang the tailors and they said they would keep the shop open for us as they were about to close, so really there was some urgency about this. Anyway our women took us in the end to show us wher it was, and we walked sooooo slowly out of the shop. The detailed instructions we had been given about the location of this tailors was that it was miles away, it was pretty much the next building after we walked out of the shopping center. Stupid women.
When we coming home, i saw a park called Popplewell Park. I was very impressed. I looked it up on the internet though, and wasnt particular impressed. Still gonna have to visit and get my photo taken next to the sign (cos im sad like that)
http://www.sydneyclimbing.com/xgo_popplewell_park.html
Oh and Samantha im purposely putting my weight in kilos cos then nobody understands how fat i am :-) . So that you know i had a really really bad week last week (i did think the scales were wrong because i had been good) and when i got weighed this week i had lost 2 kgs (which is about 4 lbs - yippee)
Simon and I went shopping yesterday to get him some trousers for work. The 2 ladies working the shop were so helpful but at the same time sooooo annoying. Si would be in the changing room and she would be shouting to him 'just remember mens trousers are meant to be taken in', just in case he uses the excuse of they are not fitting for the reason so as not to buy them. She also shouted over to the other women saying 'are you busy' when the other women was helping a customer at the time. When Simon had finished buying them, we needed to take them to a tailors cos hes a short arse. That was a drama and half because they needed to direct us, so first she wrote the address down in great detail and then she arranged for the other women to take us to the tailors, but the other women said no because she needed the toilet, but then our women said she would take us, the other women decided that she needed the loo right now, which meant nobody minding the shop. This was after she had rang the tailors and they said they would keep the shop open for us as they were about to close, so really there was some urgency about this. Anyway our women took us in the end to show us wher it was, and we walked sooooo slowly out of the shop. The detailed instructions we had been given about the location of this tailors was that it was miles away, it was pretty much the next building after we walked out of the shopping center. Stupid women.
Friday, February 16, 2007
17/02/2007 Jobs and Crosswords - Version 2
Ok re-reading what i wrote yesterday, i sound really down and made out everything was rubbish. So im gonna rewrite it.
My journey to work yes is an hour but... now i have worked out the best way its not a bad journey. I get to go over the sydney harbour bridge everyday. I get to read my book. I get to earwig strange conversations and i get to pop into the center of Sydney everyday after work if i want to. Like last night me and Simon went for a drink about the Opera House after work.
My job. The guys are really intelligent but at the same time they are nice guys. They talk about politics a lot, which doesnt interest me, but at the same time they take the mic out of each other and are incredibly nosy. We have been known to be watching people out of the windows and have even got the binoculars out to nosy further.
An example of this was that there was a couple sat outside the cafe, they were holding hands. There was a bit of an age difference with them and they looked like they were having an affair, so we decided to watch them, and Brendan even went out and purposely walked past them to ear wig the conversation.
My job is difficult and it is frying my brain but i also feel that im learning a lot of infomation. I can see as the weeks are progressing that im geting to grips with it better and can see my being part of the company. The company whilst small seems to have got some amazing products and they seem to have sold it to some massive customers. Only today i saw that 'apple' had our product. Simon says that if they offer me shares in the company then we have to stay here as they could be potentially be worth absolutely loads of money. You never know though they may get rid of me next week.
Crossword - Again in my last post i made it sound boring and stiffy. Its not its actually really funny, they are very anal about the fact that it has to have no mistakes and everyone jumps in (apart from me) with the answers.
Needless to say with the spying out the windows, the crossword, lunch, the coffee breaks (coffee is a big deal for them), chasing cockroaches its debatable as to how many hours we actually work.
My journey to work yes is an hour but... now i have worked out the best way its not a bad journey. I get to go over the sydney harbour bridge everyday. I get to read my book. I get to earwig strange conversations and i get to pop into the center of Sydney everyday after work if i want to. Like last night me and Simon went for a drink about the Opera House after work.
My job. The guys are really intelligent but at the same time they are nice guys. They talk about politics a lot, which doesnt interest me, but at the same time they take the mic out of each other and are incredibly nosy. We have been known to be watching people out of the windows and have even got the binoculars out to nosy further.
An example of this was that there was a couple sat outside the cafe, they were holding hands. There was a bit of an age difference with them and they looked like they were having an affair, so we decided to watch them, and Brendan even went out and purposely walked past them to ear wig the conversation.
My job is difficult and it is frying my brain but i also feel that im learning a lot of infomation. I can see as the weeks are progressing that im geting to grips with it better and can see my being part of the company. The company whilst small seems to have got some amazing products and they seem to have sold it to some massive customers. Only today i saw that 'apple' had our product. Simon says that if they offer me shares in the company then we have to stay here as they could be potentially be worth absolutely loads of money. You never know though they may get rid of me next week.
Crossword - Again in my last post i made it sound boring and stiffy. Its not its actually really funny, they are very anal about the fact that it has to have no mistakes and everyone jumps in (apart from me) with the answers.
Needless to say with the spying out the windows, the crossword, lunch, the coffee breaks (coffee is a big deal for them), chasing cockroaches its debatable as to how many hours we actually work.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
16/02/2007 Job and Crossword
I have to get up at 7 oclock every morning to walk to the bus stop, to then get on the bus, to then walk to the train, to get the train to then have to walk. I dislike it to be honest. At home i could just sit in my car for 20 mins and then i was there. Back to reality of work is not great. Ok so at least im earning some money and now the rent is so cheap its good as we can save some money to help pay for the way back. Ive been at work nearly 3 weeks now and my brain has been fried with what i am doing. Its hard and the guys i work with are extremely intelligent and im feeling completely out of my depth, but i keep saying to myself its not permanent therefore just treat it as some money for now. With Simon potentially working only around the corner from me soon it should be much better as we can go out to places after work and we have somebody to talk to on the buses and trains in the morning and evenings. Even though i suspect i wont talk in the mornings as im grumpy and Simon will want to listen to his ipod.
The company i work for is a good company but the guys work in different parts of the world so at the moment there is only 3/4 of us in the office. The highlight of the day is us all sitting down doing the crossword. Its a big deal to the guys, they take it in turns for one person to write the answers down. You are not allowed to make mistakes because its all about completing it and then it is 'ZEN'. The 3 weeks i have been there i have seen it be Zen'ed once, so its not common for them to completely finish the crossword.
Needless to say im absolutely rubbish at it. Im not quick enough of the mark even if i do know the answer. I have so far refused to be the person writting it down until i was forced to do it the other day and what a balls up i made of it. On the 2nd clue i had written it down wrong. They didnt like the way i wrote it in lower case letters, i had to change it. I dont think i got them in the swing so we had about 10 clues left at the end and normally its only about 2. Even Simon came in the office the other day and he was the person writting it down and he got Zen minus 1 as he wrote 1 letter wrong. Simon seems to get on better with the guys then i do.
The company i work for is a good company but the guys work in different parts of the world so at the moment there is only 3/4 of us in the office. The highlight of the day is us all sitting down doing the crossword. Its a big deal to the guys, they take it in turns for one person to write the answers down. You are not allowed to make mistakes because its all about completing it and then it is 'ZEN'. The 3 weeks i have been there i have seen it be Zen'ed once, so its not common for them to completely finish the crossword.
Needless to say im absolutely rubbish at it. Im not quick enough of the mark even if i do know the answer. I have so far refused to be the person writting it down until i was forced to do it the other day and what a balls up i made of it. On the 2nd clue i had written it down wrong. They didnt like the way i wrote it in lower case letters, i had to change it. I dont think i got them in the swing so we had about 10 clues left at the end and normally its only about 2. Even Simon came in the office the other day and he was the person writting it down and he got Zen minus 1 as he wrote 1 letter wrong. Simon seems to get on better with the guys then i do.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
08/02/2007 Meatballs chips gravy but no vinegar
Today was the first of im sure many IKEA trips. First stop was the cafe for the usual, unfortunatly i didnt take into account, that they are not into vinegar on chips here so they didnt have any sachets and therefore my meal was not complete. I would be really chuffed if somebody could send me some vinegar in sachets from england - hint hint - perhaps with some cream eggs.
Anyway as we were on the Train we couldnt buy much but we had a good go. Heres what we bought
1. Single Duvet
2. Pillow
3. Quilt cover and pillowcases
4. Batteries
5. A fish bathmat(similar to the snail mat Simon had)
6. A bin
7. 2 Bath Towels
8. 3 little tins
9. 2 Boxes
10. Paper holding thingys
11. An Alarm Clock
Not bad for 100 dollars. We have seen some bedside tables and a bookcase that we may get, but we need a car for this, which is what we may do this weekend. We shall see.
We also treated ourselves to some dvds. Simon found Seven for 9 dollars which is about 4 pound. Bargain. I got the Madonna Confessions Tour which i think is the tour i saw.
Gustavo and Frederick want to have a party this weekend and we all invite our friends, so im gonna invite Simon and he is going to invite me. :-)
Had a stupid journey to work today. First off i decided i would have ended up missing the 2nd bus therefore i was gonna get the train. So i jumped of the train and walked to the station and was just walking down the stairs when a rat ran down the stairs next to me. I screamed out but nobody saved me, and of course the rat just ignored me and went scurring down to the station. I then discovered that i couldnt get through the turnstile because i had bought the wrong bus/train pass. The guy at the shop keeps giving me the wrong ticket but i was distracted this time so bought the wrong one so have wasted 15 quid on the wrong one and then i had to buy a ticket today to get to work. I did manage to inadvertadly get away with not buying a ticket though to get to IKEA as i managed to not have to put my ticket in at any point so i can reuse it.
The other thing that happened today was at work. Cockroaches are a bit of a norm here so its to be expected that the office has got some, however Brendan told me that he keeps getting baby cockroaches on his desk today, we were therefore trying to swat them and get them to go into the catchers when we realised that they seem to appear out of his computer speaker. We then pulled the thing apart and discovered, lots of babies, but also mummy, daddy and aunties and uncles hidden around the speaker and the board. Disgusting but highly amusing.
Anyway as we were on the Train we couldnt buy much but we had a good go. Heres what we bought
1. Single Duvet
2. Pillow
3. Quilt cover and pillowcases
4. Batteries
5. A fish bathmat(similar to the snail mat Simon had)
6. A bin
7. 2 Bath Towels
8. 3 little tins
9. 2 Boxes
10. Paper holding thingys
11. An Alarm Clock
Not bad for 100 dollars. We have seen some bedside tables and a bookcase that we may get, but we need a car for this, which is what we may do this weekend. We shall see.
We also treated ourselves to some dvds. Simon found Seven for 9 dollars which is about 4 pound. Bargain. I got the Madonna Confessions Tour which i think is the tour i saw.
Gustavo and Frederick want to have a party this weekend and we all invite our friends, so im gonna invite Simon and he is going to invite me. :-)
Had a stupid journey to work today. First off i decided i would have ended up missing the 2nd bus therefore i was gonna get the train. So i jumped of the train and walked to the station and was just walking down the stairs when a rat ran down the stairs next to me. I screamed out but nobody saved me, and of course the rat just ignored me and went scurring down to the station. I then discovered that i couldnt get through the turnstile because i had bought the wrong bus/train pass. The guy at the shop keeps giving me the wrong ticket but i was distracted this time so bought the wrong one so have wasted 15 quid on the wrong one and then i had to buy a ticket today to get to work. I did manage to inadvertadly get away with not buying a ticket though to get to IKEA as i managed to not have to put my ticket in at any point so i can reuse it.
The other thing that happened today was at work. Cockroaches are a bit of a norm here so its to be expected that the office has got some, however Brendan told me that he keeps getting baby cockroaches on his desk today, we were therefore trying to swat them and get them to go into the catchers when we realised that they seem to appear out of his computer speaker. We then pulled the thing apart and discovered, lots of babies, but also mummy, daddy and aunties and uncles hidden around the speaker and the board. Disgusting but highly amusing.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Andrea watch...
I can confirm that Andrea has been "mithering" me over this ikea thing for about a month now. She seems to have this need to nest at the moment. :/ I'm wondering her motives with ikea, see normally we treat ikea like a restaurant with a side line in furnature. Meat balls and chips with loads of vinegar on...yum :) Even when we do look at their furnature, we only come away with a set of tea lights, batteries, and possibly a door matt in the shape of a snail.
Anyway, after she wrote the blog last night (Sorry all you Simon fans I've been a bit rubbish with my posts), I caught her looking at car rental web sites. She said that she's thinking of hiring a car for the weekend so we can get out and about. Having not read the last blog from her, I immediately thought of the places that we can't get to easily, namely Palm Beach (where "home & away" is filmed fact fans). Her response was, "it'll be for an Ikea trip as we can't get all the stuff i want on the train or bus" !
I've concluded that a quiet Andrea can never be good, she's storing all this ikea energy inside of her. I'm not even gonna talk about the shoes ! She has been logically talking of getting her mum to send all her shoes over from the UK in a big box. Sorry Elayne, I guess that's news to you...better brace yourself for that one ;) The other one that seems to pop up from time to time is a pet dog.
From my side, I've been the good house husband (cooking and cleaning) whilst Andrea earns me a crust ;) The time in between is spent looking for jobs and saving Andrea from moths, bugs and all manner of harmless insects.
I had an interview today with Sage which seemed to go quite well. It's a three month contract, with the intent of making it long term. I should be told later on this week whether i get it or not, in the mean time I'll continue looking and cooking.
Anyway, after she wrote the blog last night (Sorry all you Simon fans I've been a bit rubbish with my posts), I caught her looking at car rental web sites. She said that she's thinking of hiring a car for the weekend so we can get out and about. Having not read the last blog from her, I immediately thought of the places that we can't get to easily, namely Palm Beach (where "home & away" is filmed fact fans). Her response was, "it'll be for an Ikea trip as we can't get all the stuff i want on the train or bus" !
I've concluded that a quiet Andrea can never be good, she's storing all this ikea energy inside of her. I'm not even gonna talk about the shoes ! She has been logically talking of getting her mum to send all her shoes over from the UK in a big box. Sorry Elayne, I guess that's news to you...better brace yourself for that one ;) The other one that seems to pop up from time to time is a pet dog.
From my side, I've been the good house husband (cooking and cleaning) whilst Andrea earns me a crust ;) The time in between is spent looking for jobs and saving Andrea from moths, bugs and all manner of harmless insects.
I had an interview today with Sage which seemed to go quite well. It's a three month contract, with the intent of making it long term. I should be told later on this week whether i get it or not, in the mean time I'll continue looking and cooking.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
06/02/2007 Where are we going to live?
Sydney for the moment. :-)
This place has only been temporary until the 16th Feb and thats when Daniel gets back from Brazil. Therefore we have been looking for somewhere else for the past 2 weeks. We have been unsure as to whether to go with a shared accom again or a flat, so we have looked at a mixture of places over the past couple of weeks and last week, we managed to narrow it down to a Furnished Flat in the Pyrmont area. To view a flat here you dont book appointments but go to open inspections with everyone else, which is funny because its a bunch of people not wanting to talk to each other or show whether they like the place. Anyway we went to one place, which was nice but too expensive and then across the way we sneaked into another open inspection which we discovered was actually for a House for sale for a million dollars. hahaha it was nice but not really worth the money we thought, we declined it.
We then had another viewing at a 1 bedroomed unfurnished flat, which i really liked but Simon didnt like, he said it was to box-y. It had 2 balconies and you could see the harbour bridge from them. As we were leavin this building we tagged on to another viewing for another flat in the same building. This one was for $440 a week 1 bedroomed, 1 balcony with a so so view of the harbour bridge but it was furnished, and it was furnished not just with the basics of bed, sofa, fridge, but extras such as tele, towels, kettle, microwave etc. This appealed to us more as it would mean we didnt have to buy all of these initially which starts to mount up and then have to get rid of 6 months later. I should point out that its expensive to rent around here, $440 is about £200 a week, but i surpose we are in a city. The bond is $2500 as well. We decided though that that we should go for this place and on Sunday we started to fill in the application form. Which consists of us having to say, where did we last live, where did we live before that, how much did we get paid, how much did we get paid for the previous job, how long have you been there, did you get your bond back. What id, references, bank statements can you give. It really was pathetic. So anyway we did this Sunday, and then Gustavo told us that Daniel wanted to chat to us. Daniel then told us that he was thinking about continuing travelling and would we like to stay in our room until September. We discussed this and have decided to take up his offer until end of March, and then at that point we will either get an apartment for 6 months on our own or begin travelling back. If we are both happy with our jobs then we will stay until Sept at least. Daniel is planning on being back at some point and therefore we believe him and Gustavo want us to stay so they can practise there english on us. Im going to teach them to have a Bury accent.
So... the thing i have been wanting to do the most since i got here is shop.
Ive been wanting to go to Ikea and buy some stuff. Im looking forward to buying something really impractical. Im looking forward to getting my first pay cheque and buying some clothes. Ive broke my shoes, so need a new pair which will take me ages to find.
On the list so far to improve this bedroom is:
1. Double duvet, we have been sleeping under a single duvet and a sheet
2. A pillow, we have been sharin 1 pillow and the purple squedy thing i bought with me.
3. mosquito candles
4. a little table for the balcony
5. small diddy tables next to the bed.
6. perhaps a billy bookcase.
7. something really impractical, such as an ornament of some sorts.
8. Sheets for the bed
9. Towels, im still washing my hair with my beach towel.
10. a table for the laptop (perhaps with a chair)
there is a lot of tables in this list. im currently buying 4 and there is already 1 in the room. perhaps i need to think about this again.
If you wonder why we havent bought any of this stuff before, its because we are really immobile at the moment as we have 3 cases and one of them is broke so we are not portable at all.
The word 'mither' seems to be a northern word. People really dont know what im talking about where i say, 'sorry for mithering'.
Diet update - 67.6 kilos, but needed a poo. :-)
This place has only been temporary until the 16th Feb and thats when Daniel gets back from Brazil. Therefore we have been looking for somewhere else for the past 2 weeks. We have been unsure as to whether to go with a shared accom again or a flat, so we have looked at a mixture of places over the past couple of weeks and last week, we managed to narrow it down to a Furnished Flat in the Pyrmont area. To view a flat here you dont book appointments but go to open inspections with everyone else, which is funny because its a bunch of people not wanting to talk to each other or show whether they like the place. Anyway we went to one place, which was nice but too expensive and then across the way we sneaked into another open inspection which we discovered was actually for a House for sale for a million dollars. hahaha it was nice but not really worth the money we thought, we declined it.
We then had another viewing at a 1 bedroomed unfurnished flat, which i really liked but Simon didnt like, he said it was to box-y. It had 2 balconies and you could see the harbour bridge from them. As we were leavin this building we tagged on to another viewing for another flat in the same building. This one was for $440 a week 1 bedroomed, 1 balcony with a so so view of the harbour bridge but it was furnished, and it was furnished not just with the basics of bed, sofa, fridge, but extras such as tele, towels, kettle, microwave etc. This appealed to us more as it would mean we didnt have to buy all of these initially which starts to mount up and then have to get rid of 6 months later. I should point out that its expensive to rent around here, $440 is about £200 a week, but i surpose we are in a city. The bond is $2500 as well. We decided though that that we should go for this place and on Sunday we started to fill in the application form. Which consists of us having to say, where did we last live, where did we live before that, how much did we get paid, how much did we get paid for the previous job, how long have you been there, did you get your bond back. What id, references, bank statements can you give. It really was pathetic. So anyway we did this Sunday, and then Gustavo told us that Daniel wanted to chat to us. Daniel then told us that he was thinking about continuing travelling and would we like to stay in our room until September. We discussed this and have decided to take up his offer until end of March, and then at that point we will either get an apartment for 6 months on our own or begin travelling back. If we are both happy with our jobs then we will stay until Sept at least. Daniel is planning on being back at some point and therefore we believe him and Gustavo want us to stay so they can practise there english on us. Im going to teach them to have a Bury accent.
So... the thing i have been wanting to do the most since i got here is shop.
Ive been wanting to go to Ikea and buy some stuff. Im looking forward to buying something really impractical. Im looking forward to getting my first pay cheque and buying some clothes. Ive broke my shoes, so need a new pair which will take me ages to find.
On the list so far to improve this bedroom is:
1. Double duvet, we have been sleeping under a single duvet and a sheet
2. A pillow, we have been sharin 1 pillow and the purple squedy thing i bought with me.
3. mosquito candles
4. a little table for the balcony
5. small diddy tables next to the bed.
6. perhaps a billy bookcase.
7. something really impractical, such as an ornament of some sorts.
8. Sheets for the bed
9. Towels, im still washing my hair with my beach towel.
10. a table for the laptop (perhaps with a chair)
there is a lot of tables in this list. im currently buying 4 and there is already 1 in the room. perhaps i need to think about this again.
If you wonder why we havent bought any of this stuff before, its because we are really immobile at the moment as we have 3 cases and one of them is broke so we are not portable at all.
The word 'mither' seems to be a northern word. People really dont know what im talking about where i say, 'sorry for mithering'.
Diet update - 67.6 kilos, but needed a poo. :-)
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Still here
Sorry for anybody looking for us, we are here but with starting a job, looking for a job, and trying to find somewhere to live, we dont have anything particular to report and we are both busy at mo.
We are still here though, and we are enjoying it. The weather has really picked up which is nice.
x
We are still here though, and we are enjoying it. The weather has really picked up which is nice.
x
Sunday, January 28, 2007
28/01/07 Chill out Sunday - damn its weigh day
We really are starting to become too chilled out. Today we walked up to Surry Hills and went to find a cafe that we could sit outside and chill and watch the world go by. We ate pizzas, this was of course after we got ourselves weighed. Simon has lost 1 kilo (2lbs) impressive, i have put on 100g (piddle all) damn. So we had pizza and cream cakes to celebrate.
New regime this week, as we will both be getting up really early, and our days will now be different and will perhaps have more of a routine to them, which means that we may start to go out more and admire the countryside, which i think we are becoming blasey about.
Im just sat on our balcony writing this. Simon is in the bedroom lay on the bed playing the DS. Its nice cos I can sit here and chat to him, he moans when i interupt though :-)
House thoughts:
Current thinking is now we are better of sharing a flat then we dont have to buy furniture, but i do want our own ensuite as i want to sit in the bath and read my book in peace. With a bit of furniture in it this bedroom would be perfect.
New regime this week, as we will both be getting up really early, and our days will now be different and will perhaps have more of a routine to them, which means that we may start to go out more and admire the countryside, which i think we are becoming blasey about.
Im just sat on our balcony writing this. Simon is in the bedroom lay on the bed playing the DS. Its nice cos I can sit here and chat to him, he moans when i interupt though :-)
House thoughts:
Current thinking is now we are better of sharing a flat then we dont have to buy furniture, but i do want our own ensuite as i want to sit in the bath and read my book in peace. With a bit of furniture in it this bedroom would be perfect.
Friday, January 26, 2007
26/01/07 Aussie Day and Aussie Eve and houses
Aussie Day in Aussie is a bank holiday so everyone is off work. Its a day of massive celebration, and its a day of getting drunk. We have just been out with Nik and Joesphine today. We went to a pub in Watson Bay, it was really good, we ate outside and had an amazing view of the whole city and the bridge. Nik picked us up today in his convertible, but because of joesphine we didnt have the roof down, but i hinted later on in the day about it and we drove back with it down. This was great. We (I) have decided that we should buy a convertible :-).
Being driven around today was really good as we go to see the different beaches and really got to appreciate the place. Me and Simon both agree that today was a turning point for us on appreciating how beautiful Sydney is especially after our night out last night, which consisted of us going into the city to Hard Rock Cafe, which was fine. We then walked further up and met Gustavo after he finished work in the city. It was about 2 oclock when we finished in the bar drinking, and then we spent the next hour walking trying to find a taxi. It reminded me of Manchester, and the reason why was because it was hammering down with rain, and i mean rain. I was moaning in the taxi that it was like being in England.
Simon will claim that after me and Gustavo trying to get a taxi and being unsuccessful for an hour, he was clever enough to eventually find a taxi, thats not true. I ordered him to go and get a taxi across the road as i sat down, and he dawdled across the road and missed the taxi but fortunatly 2 taxis came along straight away afterwards.
Update on house situation: Not good
I start work tomorrow in the 'Crows Nest' Area. Its possible though after a couple of weeks i will be working from home however i suspect i will be there a couple of days a week at least. Sooooooo. We want to get somewhere to live for say a 6 month lease. The problem is that as well as the rent being ridiculously high everywhere, we want(ed) to live in North Sydney, the places are unfurnished, and there is such a huge demand that even when you put in an application form the landlord will then decide from all the applicants whether he wants you. Its jsut to much hassle. Having looked at some apartments in North Sydney we have now started to think that if its not Manly, then we dont want to live in North Sydney as its not very exciting. We also think that the friends we have made are really from either living in Manly or living in Waterloo and therefore the only friends we are making are people we live with, therefore perhaps if we got a 2 bedroomed apartment we could rent the 2nd room out to someone. However we just dont know what to do. We also spoke to Joesphine and she said Scott and Ingrid dont want 2 people in the appartment with them so thats that option out. (Joeshone is moving out and moving in with Nik). However Niks place does seem to have a room up for rent, therefore that could be a possibility. We have until 16th Feb to decide what to do before Daniel comes home and wants his room back.
Being driven around today was really good as we go to see the different beaches and really got to appreciate the place. Me and Simon both agree that today was a turning point for us on appreciating how beautiful Sydney is especially after our night out last night, which consisted of us going into the city to Hard Rock Cafe, which was fine. We then walked further up and met Gustavo after he finished work in the city. It was about 2 oclock when we finished in the bar drinking, and then we spent the next hour walking trying to find a taxi. It reminded me of Manchester, and the reason why was because it was hammering down with rain, and i mean rain. I was moaning in the taxi that it was like being in England.
Simon will claim that after me and Gustavo trying to get a taxi and being unsuccessful for an hour, he was clever enough to eventually find a taxi, thats not true. I ordered him to go and get a taxi across the road as i sat down, and he dawdled across the road and missed the taxi but fortunatly 2 taxis came along straight away afterwards.
Update on house situation: Not good
I start work tomorrow in the 'Crows Nest' Area. Its possible though after a couple of weeks i will be working from home however i suspect i will be there a couple of days a week at least. Sooooooo. We want to get somewhere to live for say a 6 month lease. The problem is that as well as the rent being ridiculously high everywhere, we want(ed) to live in North Sydney, the places are unfurnished, and there is such a huge demand that even when you put in an application form the landlord will then decide from all the applicants whether he wants you. Its jsut to much hassle. Having looked at some apartments in North Sydney we have now started to think that if its not Manly, then we dont want to live in North Sydney as its not very exciting. We also think that the friends we have made are really from either living in Manly or living in Waterloo and therefore the only friends we are making are people we live with, therefore perhaps if we got a 2 bedroomed apartment we could rent the 2nd room out to someone. However we just dont know what to do. We also spoke to Joesphine and she said Scott and Ingrid dont want 2 people in the appartment with them so thats that option out. (Joeshone is moving out and moving in with Nik). However Niks place does seem to have a room up for rent, therefore that could be a possibility. We have until 16th Feb to decide what to do before Daniel comes home and wants his room back.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Little Comments about different things
In no particular order i have little comments to make about little things.
1. Diet - Bad, me and Simon have both put on half a kilo each
2. The weather is hot hot hot.
3. We went into Town yesterday and found Hard Rock Cafe, i bought 2 more pins and i had a cocktail. I also had a Nandos, Simon was good and had a salad, but i had my usual.
4. When i got back i wrote an email to Nandos complaining that the pitta bread is poo in Australia. I received a reply back saying yes they agree and are changing the pitta bread. I did write though to try and get free vouchers, but didnt get any.
5. Supermarkets stay open on Sunday evenings, so Simon, me and Gustavo went at 9oclock at night and walked back to the apartment with the shopping trolley - classy.
6. Gustavo told us that the guy who used to live in our room had the best job in the world - A Playboy Cameraman. Some of his work is even on the Brazilian Website
7. I went to Coogee Beach today, this was a nice beach, its like Bondi Beach but smaller. Im feeling burnt though. my nose in particular. I feel bad here because the suncream is generally factor 30 and i sit there with 4 or nothing.
8. We were double booked on Sat night, Gustavo (Simons new best bud) asked us to go out and Joesphine the Swedish girl we lived with invited us out for a meal. We are going our with her and Nik on Friday for Australia Day for Picnic
9. She also told us via txt that she was moving out and her room is for rent if we want to take her room. It will mean living with Scotty and Ingrid. There has confused us, so this week we are going to look at some flats in Manly or Mosman and then will discuss this with her on Friday. There is some big pros and cons to this.
10. Somebody asked me what our view of the Aussies was and to be honest we dont have a view as our 'friends' seem to be either: Brazilian, German, Slovakian (well we say hi to them), Swedish and a Kiwi. Scotty is the only Aussie we know and hes a nice fella but we dont know him very well.
11. How do you breathe when you swim? I cant get it right
1. Diet - Bad, me and Simon have both put on half a kilo each
2. The weather is hot hot hot.
3. We went into Town yesterday and found Hard Rock Cafe, i bought 2 more pins and i had a cocktail. I also had a Nandos, Simon was good and had a salad, but i had my usual.
4. When i got back i wrote an email to Nandos complaining that the pitta bread is poo in Australia. I received a reply back saying yes they agree and are changing the pitta bread. I did write though to try and get free vouchers, but didnt get any.
5. Supermarkets stay open on Sunday evenings, so Simon, me and Gustavo went at 9oclock at night and walked back to the apartment with the shopping trolley - classy.
6. Gustavo told us that the guy who used to live in our room had the best job in the world - A Playboy Cameraman. Some of his work is even on the Brazilian Website
7. I went to Coogee Beach today, this was a nice beach, its like Bondi Beach but smaller. Im feeling burnt though. my nose in particular. I feel bad here because the suncream is generally factor 30 and i sit there with 4 or nothing.
8. We were double booked on Sat night, Gustavo (Simons new best bud) asked us to go out and Joesphine the Swedish girl we lived with invited us out for a meal. We are going our with her and Nik on Friday for Australia Day for Picnic
9. She also told us via txt that she was moving out and her room is for rent if we want to take her room. It will mean living with Scotty and Ingrid. There has confused us, so this week we are going to look at some flats in Manly or Mosman and then will discuss this with her on Friday. There is some big pros and cons to this.
10. Somebody asked me what our view of the Aussies was and to be honest we dont have a view as our 'friends' seem to be either: Brazilian, German, Slovakian (well we say hi to them), Swedish and a Kiwi. Scotty is the only Aussie we know and hes a nice fella but we dont know him very well.
11. How do you breathe when you swim? I cant get it right
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