1 More Week of Being Dole Scum!

Got the official letter from Boeing today, offering me the position, but Im not going to mention anything specific as there is quite a detailed privacy section on the offer. Needless to say, its well paid, I can wear whatever (to an extent) and I start on February the 4th, as they want me to start on a full week, not like next week. So I get a week more of normal driving lessons and doing stuff before its nose to the grind stone time. Best make the most of it!

The weather was nice today so we decided to go over to Yarraville and have a mooch about.  Top and bottom of it is, that its a nice place, with lots of old period buildings, and it has a lovely little art deco theatre, that looks like the old Electric cinema in Birmingham (but newer and bigger). Yarraville also had quite a few nice little shops which sold antiquey type things. Didnt really float my boat but Becca thought it was good. As it was a small place, we spent the rest of the day in town, looking for a Sports Soccer style discount sportswear place for us to buy our gym equipment (yes we already have some but its in 1 of many unmarked boxes in storage and we cant go and open each one until we find what we want). However, Im not sure if its the time of year, or the fact that sport in general is taken a lot more seriously here than in the UK but nowhere wants to sell you stuff proper cheap. Most of the full price stuff, is cheaper than in the UK, but its still full price. I only wanted to pay $100 for trainers, but the cheapest we could find any was $150. Sooooooo…..we’re off to Chadstone tomorrow to see if we can pick stuff up there. 

Games wise, Ive been playing some of the online games I never got a chance to when they were released (thanks to crappy internet). I must admit to liking Halo 3 a LOT more than I ever anticipated. Its just so damn addictive, and its real easy to mute annoying folks when they mouth off. Shame I only ever seem to get to play on the Guardian and Snowbound maps! I tried Team Fortress 2 and was horribly disappointed. I only managed 1 game as I couldnt find any others. Whether thats indicative of how many folks play it, or the timezone differences between here, Europe and America that were at fault, I dont know. However, I cant say I liked it when I did play it. Far too fast and unsatisfying for my liking. I also dont like the way you move. When playing Halo 3, or Call of Duty 4, theres a physical prescence of you in the gameworld. You feel the long drops, bumping into stuff and it seems tangible that youre running around a believable place. I didnt get that with TF2. It just left me cold and feeling isoilated from what was going on. Oh well, its one less game I have to put time into. Shame though. I also spent a fair amount of time playing Gotham Racing 4 online, which was a load of fun. I didnt make the mistake of playing a Ranked match (usually full of twats who all pick the right car and moan at you if they smash into you, or use you as a brake), so a social playlist it was. No rules, no car classes, just whatever you want and it made it hella fun. Beating Ferraris while being in a Delorean was a big thrill and having bikes whizz past while in my car was also good fun. Best mode was called Bulldog - basically its playing “Tag” with cars. When one of you is tagged, you join in the hunt to tag the remaining cars. Its tremendous fun when there are 5 of you all chasing the 1 remaining car, all frantically trying to catch him. 

Anyway, Ive waffled on for games far too much. On to tomorrow, which starts with an 8.30am driving lesson (I’ll still be asleep!) then we’ll probably nip over to Chadstone, as mentioned before. Fingers crossed we manage to pick up some stuff. 

Edit: Few new photos on my webspace 

I like driving shocker!

Its true - I dont know if its the new instructor, the roads here or the lack of gears but Im really enjoying my lessons. Low speed maneuvers today, which I was crap at in the UK, and after 1 lesson with this guy, Im already better than what I was. Still not great, but its an improvement. Next lesson is on Thursday at 8.30, so we’ll see how I cope with rush hour traffic!

Other than that, I ve not really done much today. Sorted out a new bank account, played a fair bit of Xbox (Halo 3 online is really addictive!)  and watched a load of British TV (TV Burp, Primeval, Gordon Ramsay, Grand Designs). I know you folks in the UK often complain that TV is crap and theres nothing on, but seriously…..try Australian TV! Its shocking! Becca had her hair cut (looks much better) and thats about it. Off to Yarravile tomorrow as the weather is back to its sunny norm. Might see if I can pick our gym stuff up too. 

780 days of joy, then this…

Oh dear! Yep - it finally struck me too. After having a fully working console from 9am on 2/12/2005, it finally gave up the ghost today. Its been a bit dodgy over the past few days, with games suddenly developing a strange yellow tinge when playing, which could only be remedied by powering off and on again. However, today, it appeared right from the turn on, so as normal I turned the thing off then on again, except nothing came on the TV. I could hear it booting up, but no video came on. Tried swapping TV’s, tried swapping cables, both with no luck. It was pointless trying to claim on the extended Microsoft 3 year warranty as it would have been for Microsoft UK, not Australia. So after a bit of research, several minutes of grumbling,  and a LOT of walking around Melbourne, I begrudgingly picked up another 360 (the Arcade version - seeing as I already had all the other bits from my busted 360). Just finished setting it all up and everything now works fine, as well as being a damn sight quieter than my original 360. After it was all done, I forgot to remove the Halo 3 disc from my old xbox, so powered it up to eject the disc and found I had the Red Ring of Death in all its full annoying glory. So now I have $400 less, but I have a working 360 again which is important because……

……I DEFINITELY have the Boeing job (so I need to get my gaming in this week! The agency called today to say that Boeing had offered me the position and would be sending me out the details, all ready to start next week on Tuesday (as Monday is a national holiday for Australia Day). This is good news as I’d been fretting that something would go wrong and the deal would turn sour, but now its all done and dusted!

I didnt manage to sort an update for yesterday as by the time Id remembered to make a post, it was late and 3 episodes of Peep Show were on TV so just had to let it go. We didnt do much anyway, as the weather didnt clear and it was drizzly all day. However to get us out of the house we had a wander around Albert Park (the town bit, not the actual park) which was small, but very nice. Lots of small bakeries and cafes with choice goods. We didnt do much today either until the 360 went tits up. Not sure what we’re up to tomorrow as I have a drivng lesson at 1pm so it kinda splits the day in half.  Either before next week, we want to go to Yarraville, have a wander over Prahran again to look at trainers and swimsuits for Becca, and get some gym gear from town. 

The “most stuff happened in least time ever” post!

First post of 2008 too. OK. I dont really know where to begin. New Year has come and gone, (with the dull tediousness that it always does) and we’ve flown half way around the planet again. Should be doing wonders for my airmiles. In one year we’ve gone to Vegas and back, out to Australia, back to England, and then back to Australia again. Great for airmiles, crap for bank balance! 

I would like to say that this is the return of my daily updates, but the internet is down at our apartment. We dont even have our original phone number anymore. Its very frustrating. the telecoms companies out here seem even worse than the UK. Well, I say ALL telecoms companies, but its really Telstra’s infrastructure and inept service engineers that seem to be mucking up. The guys at Netspace (my isp) have been really helpful, but is still not fixed as its down physical phone line connections, which are rented from Telstra or so Im told. The upshot if it is that Im checking all my emails, making posts and doing a bit of surfing each day either from my phone (expensive) or going to a net cafe and using my Mac there.  Cheap rates and its got air con.

 Ok, so I’ll draw a line under whats gone before and just start from today. Went for my aptitude test at Boeing (well, actually at an aptitude test company, but its for the Boeing job) and it went really well. Well, at least I think it did. It was a lot shorter, and easier than the behemoth I did for Toyota. Im just waiting to hear when the actual interview for the job will be now. It better be soon as I was told they wouldnt be interviewing after this week! 

Secondly, its bloody roasting hot here today. 42ºC! Its not unbearable, but I guess it would be if you were out in it all day. As it is, this net cafe is wonderfully air conditioned so its lovely. Probably off to get an ice cream or something after this, to cool down once we’re outside. Its a shock to the system after the -8ºC-ness of Birmingham over Christmas. Still…..its a nice shock!

Had some tasty tea last night - on passing the fishmongers/chippy we spied stuffed (with rice, prawns and chilli’s) squid so decided to by a couple. $10 each. Thats about £4 for the uninitiated - and god damn were they nice! The standard of food out here, and the quality is superb. Popped into the offy at the end of the street and asked if they had anything like Kronenbeg Blanc (I developed quite a taste for it over Xmas) but they didnt stock it. However, they put me onto a couple of imported Belgium white beers they do have in, and if they arent tastier than Blanc! Bloody lovely! And they go down a treat in this hot weather. 

On the games front, I came back from the UK with Assassins Creed, Conan, and Tomb Raider Anniversary (as well as some DS games I mentioned in previous posts), the last 2 of which I picked up in the sales. Ive only played Conan so far, and Im mightily impressed. Its basically, God of War on 360. Quick Time Events, mythical beasts, different weapon techniques and combos etc…. Its actually pretty impressive. For £20 that is. I dont think I would ever buy it full price but its well worth a punt at half price. Recommended! 

Had a look through the local rag here yesterday and found The Wombats and Maximo Park are out here in March. Cant wait - next time we go into town we’ll definitely be getting tickets. Speaking of which, it may be tomorrow. Dependent upon the weather really - I wasnt at all tempted today to go strolling through the city today, in this heat, and in a suit! the forecast is for this hot snap to run into tomorrow as-well so may give it a miss until it cools down. It will be a decidedly cold 24ºC on Saturday so might pop in then. 

Anyway, I’ll keep you all posted on whats happening here. It may not be everyday (until my net access is fixed) but it will be more often than its been. Can I just thank everyone at this stage, for your messages of sympathy and support. I dont know how I would have coped with the turbulent past few months if it werent for your kind words, helping me, and my family get through a terrible time. Thanks again. 

 And for those that arent aware, you can leave me a message for me at any time by clicking on the “Comments” icon at the bottom right of any post. You may be telling me Im gay for buying Conan, or that  I should shutup about it being so hot. Either way, Im not fussed - just comment!. And dont worry, its secure, spam protected and every one has to go through me before its displayed. So get commenting! 

Random Stuff

Put “random stuff” into Google Images and this photo popped up, which made me smile, so it stays.

Just a little bit of an update on things. Went into Brum today to pick up our flight tickets. Also booked our seats online too so all is well on that front. Got an email about the Boeing job too, booking me in for an aptitude test on the 10th of January. Another 90 minutes of fun and hilarity to look forward too….

Also got an email back from my GP saying that he’s sent the letter of referral to the cardiologist, so Im just waiting for him to book me in for an appointment, hopefully in the 1st week for January, as planned. Any later and Im screwed as I’ll be back in Melbourne.  

Hopefully, today will also be the last time I venture in consumer-world until after Christmas. Really didnt enjoy strolling around Brum today. However, Ive already seen a couple of things that I wouldnt mind picking up in the online sales (yes a few of them HAVE already started) so I cant totally switch off over the coming days. No matter. Sitting on the sofa checking out Amazon is a bit easier and less stressful than fighting the hordes in Birmingham.  

 After watching todays Jamie Oliver Christmas special thingy, Im now really keen to try goose. He made it look extremely tasty and the fat makes tasty roasties too!  

Im Melting! MEEEELLLTIIIIIING!

Jebus Christ, it was hot today! 37 degrees hot!!! By comparison, it doesnt quite look (thanks for the photo Andy!) that hot back in the West Midlands! I cant believe its snowing there already, its obscene! On the flipside, everyone is quite surprised just how hot it is here. The only downside is that the hot weather, and Southern winds have blown in a load of Flies from New South Wales. Its not so bad when you first go out, as the insect repellant shoo’s ‘em off, but that only lasts for 4 hours. Gets very annoying after that! However, 37 degrees with flies is preferable to snow and misery! Its meant to rain a little tomorrow and teh day after, but back up to 33 degrees by the weekend. 

Feeling better today too. Still fed up of not having a job, but just trying to be positive about it. Keep on looking, keep on waiting. Went into town today and braved the heat. Picked up a George Grill for cheap, and got a copy of Mass Effect for the 360, which I’ll be taking for a spin in a bit. Just let my tea go down. A VERY tasty tea I might add, of dim sum (which for whatever reason is called dim sim over here) but we got some separate gyoza (pork dumpling type things). Damn tasty, as I said. All washed down with an ice cold Magners! 

Not sure what are plans are for tomorrow, especially if its going to be wet. Our internet should, and I say SHOULD, be sorted tomorrow, so I will have chance to play online, and download the months worth of UK TV we’ve missed. But thats all assuming everything will be sorted, and based on my experience with telecoms companies here, I dont think it will be.  

Poohsticks!

Well, I bet you cant guess what. We did nothing exciting today? What you say? Surprised?! er….no! Or at least you shouldnt be. Getting a bit fed up now with the lack of job. I guess I just have to carry on looking, and waiting for replies from the 2 positions Ive already applied for. Still….doesnt make it any less annoying. 

On a positive note, weve seen a couple of things that made us laugh on the TV. Firstly was a new program here, called National Bingo Night, which is equally as thrilling as my blog posts! It is what the title describes it to be - just some bingo show…but the thook is the funny indian guy who keep shouting “Noooooooooooooooooo Bingoooooooooooooooooooo!” in an amusing voice! The one redeeming feature in a show that would otherwise suck the life right out of you!

Second thing weve found amusing is the way politics is performed here. Its a bit of a mix of UK and USA styles. Each of the 2 main parties (Coalition and Labour) seems to have adverts that describe their policies etc…. as in the UK, but more alarmingly are the adverts that just slag off the other guy, like the States. The latest one is the best, and is from the existing Goverment, slagging off the opposition (Kevin Rudd), and it shows some country guy who used to be an MP being asked the question if he believed Kevin could handle the pressure of being Prime Minister, and he said, in a really thick Aussie accent, and I quote “I worked with the opposition and let me tell you Kevin Rudd couldnt go 3 rounds with Winnie the Pooh, let alone lead the Country”. Awesome! 

 STILL not got broadband, so rang Netspace today, and they told me its 14 WORKING days from the application, which means my connection date is the 20th, which is next Tuesday. Bit annoying but what are you gonna do. For whatever reason, the internet isnt too bad today so its fair news. Also, I received the modem we ordered off them too, so Im just waiting for them to turn the juice on. 

Tomorrow, I’ll be going to that Games Expo thing I mentioned before, and passing through town on the way. News is that Mass Effect is being released tomorrow here, a week ahead of schedule so I’ll get it and try it out. Is getting some great reviews, and should take me a LOT longer than a few days to complete! 

I keep this handy….For Close Encounters!

So guess what……we didnt do much today! The realisation is finally hitting that we DONT have to do anything if the weather is nice. Back in the UK, you used to feel obliged to get out and do stuff, as you never knew when the next nice day was coming. Here, I havent even seen a cloud for a week! Nice days are two-a-penny, so theres no real need to do stuff on every one of them. And it agrees with our thrifty lifestyle. 

Finished Call of Duty 4 today. The Aliens reference, is now also a COD 4 referrence, as a lot of Aliens lines are in COD 4. The above is mentioned, “stay frosty” is also mentioned, as well as “we…are…LEAVING”. Nerdy that I know these things, but what are you gonna do! Was a really good game. Relatively short, but for how long it lasts, its amazing. For all of Half Life 2’s longevity, I cant help thinking a lot of it was filler material - not so here. Short and sweet. The difficulty on “Hardened” is also pitched just right. Hard enough for multiple deaths occuring, but not frustrating. Already playing it through again, as Im sure I didnt really appreciate the level designs as I was cowering for cover while bullets rained in from all angles. Gonna see if I can pick up Assassins Creed this week too. I wasnt going to bother but its getting some extremely good reviews. Gimme something to do. 

As I said, we didnt do much. Received my Bopo card, which is basically like a credit card, but not. You transfer money to it from your bank account. Its the only option we have to buy goods over the internet here as there are NO debit cards to speak of provided by the bank, only Switch cards. Did some shopping. Thats it. Going ot town tomorrow to sort out Medicare stuff and have a mooch about.  

Too Late…

Sorry, but for some reason, I thought I’d already made a post today, and its only now that I’ve realised I havent. However, were off out to see a band in a 10 minutes or so, so no time for a proper post. I’ll update you on all the “thrilling” details of our day tomorrow. 

Doing nowt has never felt so good!

In a practical sense, today, weve actually done nothing. Well, tell a lie, we’ve walked to a place, then walked back, but its felt like a great day! Been another scorcher here (about 26 degree’s) so we decided to have a stroll up to Port Melboune, not Brighton as I said yesterday. Was great! Ive put some more photo’s on Facebook if youre bored enough to have a look. Stopped halfway on the walk up at a beachside cafe, and had a soething called a Pide. I chose it as it looked a bit like a pasty, but we later found out from the waitress, that its a Turkish food, thats basically a turkish bread, topped with whatever (I had morrocan spiced lamb, Becca had chicken) then turned up so its a sealed, pasty shape. God damn it was good! Yet another tasty place to eat. 

Saw about a million dogs on the beach, some playing in the water, others just sat there puzzled when their owners threw their ball into the ocean! Saw a few more cockatoo’s flying around, and by christ theyre noisy! The parrots have nothing on these monsters! Huge too. Got a bit cross with the flies here. It seems the “never give up” Aussie spirit has even wormed its way into the insects here too. With a British fly, if it comes by your face, you move your had around and it goes away. Not so here. You move your hand around, and it flys the other side of your head. Move your hand around a bit more and it lands on your glasses. Move your hand to your glasses and it buzzes around your head. They just dont give up!  

After our walk there, we simply walked back. Nothing exciting. Popped out a bit later to catch the sunset, which looked great, then bought some sausages for tea. Spiffing!

Hatty, Hat, Hat, Hat!

Not such a great match this morning. For the unknowing, it was 2-0 to Barcelona. Rangers were just eclipsed. They looked a difference class. But nevermind, its been another beautiful day. After the match, I took a stroll out, bought a paper, then went down to the beach to read it. Was fantastic. Another one of those “pinch me” moments! Mr Weatherman says solid sun for the foreseable future. Saturday will be 27, and next tuesday will be 30! Scorchio!!!!!!

After that, it was back home and onto games. Managed to finish Half Life 2: Episode 2. Overall, I thought it was good. Not great though. The last setpiece fight being particularly ominous and repetitive. Got fed up with it after while and was a relief when it was over. Not cos it was hard (it was pretty easy) but it just seemed like a very cheap, and unprofesional way of extending the longevity of the game.  Still….Im looking forward to Episode 3! 

Onto Guitar Hero 3 after that, and another mixed bag reaction. Some of the songs work very well, while others can be as crap, hard and tuneless as those in GH2 (Metallica, Slipknot and White Zombie…Im looking at you!).  I cant say I enjoyed the last 4 songs  in the game, which is a pity as on the hole it gets things just right. The last “encore” song is just a joke though. The most ridiculous, tuneless, strum-fest youve ever heard. I didnt even attempt to play half of it, and Id wager that anyone that does will have the wrists of an 80 year old if they do complete it. Im also a bit miffed you dont unlock ALL of the songs by completing singleplayer career. There are another 6 songs (including the Bloc Party, RHCP and Beastie Boys tracks) that can ONLY be unlocked by either completing co-op career, or by inputting a cheat! VERY annoying! Im not cheating, so will wait until we get a 2nd guitar next week, but for those who DONT have someone else to play this with locally, it stinks! 

 I still havent played Call of Duty 4, but will remedy that in the next half hour.  Will post my impressions tomorrow. 

Going to get my ears lowered tomorrow, as well as buying New Years Eve gig tickets to see Architecture in Helsinki (who we both love), as well as an aussie band who I like called Wolf and Cub. Ticket is a bargain - $45! And thats for about 11 bands in 3 rooms….on NYE! The pub/venue is 10 minutes walk away so its ideal. Beats UK ripoff (as most things over here do). Posted a few more pics on Facebook for anyone that way inclined, so knock yourself out!

Of Football and Chocolate…

As mentioned in my previous post - apologies for the lack of post yesterday. The day just ran away from me. I doubt I’ll be double posting today either as 1, - the internet is pathetically slow, and b, - i didnt get up until 1.05pm! Whoops! Speaking of internet, we managed to get the landlady to sort it so we can still keep this connection until we get our proper broadband line installed. Our existing contract was meant to be up this week, but the new one not installed for a week after that. so at least we can still get online. Crap broadband is better than NO broadband! Anyhow, best to start with yesterday,

 First off a job for a Quality Engineer at Holden cropped up which I quickly applied for. Still dont know if the Boeing jobs are available, but I’ll email tomorrow to find out either way. Sounds like a decent opportunity at Holden. Its at Port Melbourne again, so not far away. No mention of salary though. Anyway, Ive applied. 

We then decided to venture out our house and strolled up to the St Kilda farmers market, which is about 30 seconds walk away from our apartment block! Had some really good stalls with a ton of tasty food. Next time its on we’ll get up earlier to get some stuff as most of the choice food had already gone. Went into Melbourne after that to pick up more housey stuff, and have a look at some of the outfits being worn by all the folks off to the Melbourne Cup. Saturday was derby day so they were out inforce, and damn we saw some horrific efforts!

While there, I took my game in to hopefully get it buffed and polished, so it would hopefully work. I later discovered it didnt - my 360 didnt even recognise it as a game! Oh well, looks like I’ll have to buy it again. Should be able to pick it up cheap off ebay though.  Also, while in Melbourne we stopped off here and had what is probably the best hot chocolate Ive ever had. And Im quite aware that a lot of the things here are slowly becoming “the best…..Ive had/seen”. Im not exaggerating. They REALLY are all good! It was heavenly! We managed to come home with all the things we went in for anyway so it was a successful day!

We didnt end up going out with the girl across the hall. Probably cos it was just one of those things said in conversation that you later wish you hadnt said.  Not to worry, were here for 6 months so plenty of time left to get out. Anyway, I was mulling over whether to go and watch the Arsenal/Man Utd game up the pub. Time difference meant the kick off was at quarter to midnight, and it was raining. However, anticipation got the better for me and took a walk up to the Elephant and Wheelbarrow to watch it. A good mix of folks in there and some tasty Kronenburg (which sounds unremarkable but its the only place in Melbourne Ive so far found that sells it!). A very good match, and a fair result I thought, even thought the Arsenal fans acted as though theyd just won 6-0. London arseholes! Eventually got back home about 2.30am, after a few drinks, hence the late get-up today! 

Not really done much with myself today either. Been into St Kilda to get a paper and have a mooch about. Still raining so didnt want to spend too long outdoors. Tomorrow, I think we are going back into Melbourne, as Becca has to get her driving licence sorted out. I expect it to be really busy as its still the Spring Racing Carnival, and Tuesday is a state holiday as its the actual Melbourne Cup race, so a lot of folks have Monday off to make it a long weekend. Will see if I can get Guitar Hero 3 early too! Speaking of which, while I was waiting to get my game polished yesterday, Becca had a quick couple of go’s on a Guitar Hero 3 demo they had out in store, which was pretty good. the song list this time seems excellent. 

Annoyed, but Happy!

Damn I feel tired! Earliest start yet today. 7.30! (god help me when I start work!) Had to be up early to sort out the Telstra guy scheduled to arrive, anytime between 8 and 12. Luckily, he came early, about 8.30 ish and cutting a long story short, he fixed it. Yay! So immediately rang Telstra and told them I was leaving! Ha! Strangely, the phone lady didnt seem surprised at all. Didnt even try to talk me out of it. Rang up broadband provider and sorted the phones with them, as well as internet. 60GB download limit, ADSL2+, so 24MB download and 1MB upload. Gonna take 10-14 days to sort it out so the countdown to proper broadband starts……NOW!

After Telstra guy left we went on over to Ikea to stock up on stuff. Baking trays, potato peelers, cheese grater etc….All boring stuff but necessary. Feel absolutely battered now though. Early night tonight. 

The crap news is (for me only) is that one of my Xbox games appears to to be scratched. Whenever I try to have a race in Gotham 4, I get the standard “disc unreadable, wipe with cloth” message, and no matter what I do, it always returns. Will take it to the city centre tomorrow to see if anyone can clean it or something. Got to go in to buy us a decent kettle (the one we have is noisy, has no water level thingy and takes forever) and a  dustbuster.  More exciting stuff eh?! 

On the exciting front, Guitar Hero 3 is out next week, and if any of the past street dates have been anything to go by, it will be on the shelves on Monday afternoon. Really looking forward to it. The tracklist looks like the best yet, and the 1st batch of downloads are pretty decent stuff too (the foo’s and velvet revolver). 

Been thinking a fair bit about Christmas today and I havent a clue what I’m going to do presents wise. Both for me and for others. Internet shopping here isnt as “big” as it is in the UK, so it makes things a lot harder. The tree’s and decorations have started going up in Melbourne, and “Santa” will be at Myers department store from next week. It just seems to close. Gonna be a bit of a damp squib this year seeing as at the moment, neither of us have jobs, we dont know anyone and now on our . Its exciting, being by the beach in the sun and stuff, but a massive change from christmas with friends and family. 

Telstra Troubles!

So we started off today trying to get our phones sorted. Cutting a long story short, the body corporate guy came and traced our phone line back to a working line. The Telstra guy had looked in the wrong place. Dope! So had to ring and have a go at Telstra for not sorting it out the first time, and arrange a visit for tomorrow morning. Hopefully it will be the end of it!

After he’d done his thing and gone, we went over to Chadstone Shoping Centre, which is just a bus journey away. Firs time on a bus over here - and Im glad to report there were no chavs, smoking, talking in a brumy hip-hop stylee, or playing 50-cent on their crappy phones!  Its where I got the photo above. It amused me as it looked like it was saying the seat was for amputee’s, people with handbags, or fat women! Chadstone was real good. A ton of decent shops around. Picked me up some bagels and pastrami from a deli there for about £2.50! Becca got herself an aussie mobile (at last!) and I had a good look around a ton of electrical shops. Also, there was a great pt hops with puppies galore in the window. All kinds of strange crossbreeds. King Charles + japaneze spitz. Shitz hu + poodle. They looked great, and we would have loved them all!

We’ve decided to not get Foxtel (oz equivalent of Sky) just yet. Its just too much fiddling and hassle to set it up, in rented accommodation for only 6 months. Have to apply to the building owners to ahve it installed and thats before you have the annoyance of what happens when you leave halfway into your 12 months contract. So what we’re doing instead is getting a setop box with recording functions, and increasing the package we’ll be getting for the internet to allow us to download more good TV. Looking at this one at the moment.  Its not a make Ive heard of before but its top notch specialist AV stuff over here. Will get that sorted when we receive the house money, as its pretty pricey, but a hell of a lot cheaper than 12 months on Foxtel. 

Phone/Ear/Job/Neighbour stuff

Been a day of news today. Some of it exciting, some of it not so exciting, whcih has the final result of making me feel “meh”. They cancel each other out. SO on with the news…. 

Phone - a Testra engineer came over at 3pm to try to find the line fault. Checked the main line in the street (ok), checked the main switchboard thingy (ok) and and checked our phone socket (not ok).  So this means that the problem is from the switchboard to our phone socket, which isnt Telstra’s responsibility, its the buildings owners responsibility. SO rang our landlord, to ring the owners to fix it. Top and bottom of it is they are getting a private telecoms guy to come over and fix it. Gonna give him a ring tomorrow to sort out a visiting time. Either way, I dont think it will be fixed anytime soon, but we’ll see. Was really good when we were trying to find the switchboard though. Just through kindness, we had 4 other folks from the apartment block helping us try to sort it out. Was great - couldnt have imagined that in the UK.  :o(

Ears - basically, they’re fine. There is no infection, it was just some leftover muck that was being discharged. He had a look down each ear, and the grommets are still intact, and everything looks normal. Next time he wants to see me is February. :o)

Got an email a hour ago basically saying that the positions at Boeing stand a chance of being put on hold, and possibly withdrawn completely. Not got any reason yet, but the agency guy said he’s trying to confirm this and see why.   :o(

The neighbour opposite introduced herself today (we tried yesterday but she had a facepack on so said she would contact us today!). Nice girl, about our age called Anneka, whos lived her for 5 months or so, but in St Kilda all her life. Anyhow, after a brief chat she invited us out with a bunch of her friends this weekend. Dont know if it was a genuine offer or just said a passing comment, but I’d like to get out and about and meet folks, so heres hoping. Will see on Saturday.  :o)

So there you have it. For every piece of good news, we have bad news. I suppose its better than all bad news though so cant be all that bad. I just feel really down if that job is gone. It would have been perfect. Real close to home, well paid, high profile company. Poohsticks!

Moving Experts!

Firstly, before I ramble on…I can still hear! Woo hoo!! Got a bit of watery discharge this morning, which is mentioned in the “aftercare” leaflets I was given. The doc who did the operation rang me today and I told him about the discharge. he mentioned about a possible infection and said if its still like it on Monday, to make an appointment to go see him on Tuesday and he will sort me out with some antibiotic eardrops. Other than that, its great to be able to hear again!

Right, now onto house stuff. Finished the last of our packing this morning and went to get our rental car, which was a Nissan something or other. Was a fairly big hatchback sized car…and was automatic. As a consequence, we ended up driving everywhere like an epileptic having a fit. The car was spasming rather than driving down the road as Ms Crook couldnt get the hang of the fact that her left foot was on the brake, NOT the clutch! Wasnt what you would call smooth! 

Anyway, we drove back and did 3 runs over to the new apartmentand all our stuff was dropped off. The new place is much bigger than the last one. Real impressed with it. So many good little cupboards and storage spaces about the place. Only downside is the front room is a bit dark, but the back gets the sun on the afternoon so its a trade off. Its a great place! Sorted out  changes of address with bank and medicare too. Also got the phone line “turned on” by Telstra so proper internet should be forthcoming. We DO have a phone number now, but Im not sending it out to folks as we are off to buy a Skype phone tomorrow. That too will have its own phone number, and calls to that will only be charged at local rates, so you/we can natter for ages! Gonna sort out Foxtel soon, which is the Oz equivalent of Sky. 

As well as the Skype phone, we’re probably off to Melbourne tomorrow to get some boxes/storage stuff for our clothes and some general housey stuff. Is good now we’re in somewhere at least semi-permanent. We can start buying nice stuff and things that we will keep, rather than just making do for a week or 2. Is meant to be 30 degrees tomorrow too, so another scorcher!  

Hot! Hot! Hot!

God damn its warm today! The news said 31 degree’s but it felt much more than that. Its still shorts and tee-shirt weather, and its 8pm! Feels about 23/24 degree’s now. Its been good though, as its been cloudy and sunny, rather than relentless sun all the time.

So as expected, we went down to St Kilda pier to get the ferry into Williamstown. Was great! What would have probably taken us an hour, to get from one side of Melbourne bay to another, it took 20 minutes! Williamstown is quite small, and more of a place to live than a “destination”. We also had our first crap experience at a restaurant. Well….I did.

They placed us outside (ok) but next to a bush that was teeming with bee’s and these strange wasp/fly thingies that were huge, but didnt bother us that much. More a visual thing. You see lots of insects and start getting itchy. However the thousands of tiny, miniscule flys climbing our drinks and hurling themselves in to a cider-ey grave DID annoy. I took the care to fish all of the tiny corpses out, Becca couldnt be bothered with her drink and supped them down! It took an hour for the food to come, and when mine eventually came it was pretty sub-standard. Calamari like rubber. However, Becca’s was OK. Service was lousy too, so we finished our drinks, paid and left. No tip for you! However, for nearly 7 weeks of on-and-off eating out, to come this far and only JUST have a crap experience is pretty good I reckon.

Walked back to the main Williamstown plaza and had a tasty ice cream while we waited for the ferry back. On which, while approaching St Kilda pier, someone spotted 2 dolphins close by playing in the water. Even though I dont like dolphins very much (attention seeking whores!) I had to have a look, just to say I had seen wild dolphins just down the road from where I live! And now I’ve said it!

Had an email a couple of days ago saying our shipping stuff has left the UK and it should reach us in the middle of November. Much sooner than I expected. I was hoping to watch the deciding round of the Grand Prix today…until I relaised it wasnt on until 3am. Pooh!!! Ah well, fingers crossed for Hamilton. No grand plans for tomorrow. I think I will pop into town tomorrow to trade in Sega Rally, buy some shorts and have a general mosey about.

Phew! What a Scorcher!!!

Its been shockingly warm here today. About 27 degrees. Slowly beginning to realise that its not like the UK here with regards to the hottest part of the day. Back in the UK it always seemed that the hottest period was between 12 and 1pm, but here its consistently about 3 - 4.30pm. Odd, but nice.

Went to South Yarra again today to buy nice stuff to eat. Got some tasty dips (for tomorrow but more on that later) and a “gnocchi for 2 pack” that contains enough gnocchi for 4, a tub of homemade pesto and some Parmesan, for about £5! Got there too late though and there wasnt any pastrami or and bagels left, so will get them from South Melbourne market on Wednesday.Didnt manage to trade in Sega Rally, as I didnt take any ID with me (I later found out that its a state law that you have to show photo ID when trading in games!).

While we were in Melbourne, we ate at the metro centre, and I had a ton of tasty Japanese food. Im loving Yakatori and Gyoza, so made a pig of myself. Whilst there, we noticed a bunch of folks, who appeared to be having a “meet” to discuss, dress, play with and parade their creepy Japanese dolls, like the one in the picture above. They were horrible! Putting us off our food - but I managed to track them down on the net, here. Whatever floats your boat I suppose! After coming home, we went back into St Kilda, to get some cider and have a walk about. Whilst there we got a couple of ice creams (I got a tasty double cone of white chocolate with raspberry, and a scoop of hazelnut roche), then went down to the beach to eat it. I cant express what a surreal feeling it is, knowing that 6 weeks ago we were living in Kings Heath, and now, here we are, sitting on the beach, in our shorts cos its so hot in Spring, eating ice cream listening to the sea and watching the sunset. Its just amazing. I still cant believe we live here - its like paradise.

Anyway, its going to be even hotter tomorrow. Forecast of 32 degree’s. So the plan is to catch the ferry from St Kilda pier to Williamstown and have a look around. 

 

Knackered!!!!!

Bloody hell Im tired!!! Was a beautiful day today so we decided to have a walk along the sea front, and see where it took is. On our way we saw a ton of dogs, in fact, we even saw a bit of beach especially sectioned for dogs to run around which looked fantastic! And it was a huge area too! Ate some tasty fish and chips, and ended up in Brighton! Wasnt until we got back and put in where we’d been on Google Maps and realised it was a 7 mile round trip!!! No wonder we feel tired! Meant to be 28 degrees tomorrow, so even hotter! Wooo hoooooo!!!Had another one of those moments today where we still cant believe we live here! I mean, sitting in the baking sun, on a big warm rock, looking out at the sea is a BIT of a difference from Kings Heath park. I still dont think its properly sunk in! 

Errr….Sunday…?

That, by the way is the view we had whilst eating our Sunday dinner! But more on that later…. I cant help but comment on the Rugby. I dont really care for Rugby, or like it, but I know enough about it to know that England were playing crap, and the Aussies were playing well. So Im surprised that they won, but no more than the Australian press! Ha! You should see the papers today - “English has-beens”. “beaten by the grumpy old pommy men”. “england, arguably the most disappointing team of the World Cup”. All actual quotes. And when there is a big Aussie rules final, or big cricket match or something and they win, its in the papers and on the TV for at LEAST 2 days afterwards. It wasnt even mentioned in the evening news today! It seems, like the Germans, “they dont like it up ‘em!”Anyway, enough of crappy sport, what did we do today? OOOOOH! Before that……

SAUSAGE UPDATE!!!!

Had those pork sausages last night and they were…….drum roll……..TASTY! Very tasty, and had fennel seeds in them - were lovely! Especially with HP sauce on ‘em! The only downside of it was the hob is rubbish. Crappy electric hob, takes forever to heat up, takes forever to react to changes in the heat setting, and takes forever to cool down. Never used one before, and dont want to again. Well today, we decided to have a stroll up and down the beach, seeing as its (strangely) one of the places we havent adventured around yet!  its going under a lot of redevelopment at the moment which should be complete by Summer. Still, its still nice. And we saw about 3 million dogs, running in the water and being cheeky. We also found out that the breakwater at the end of St Kilda pier is protected as its home to PENGUINS!!!! Exciting! We are but 5 minutes walk away from possible wild penguins!!! How mads that!!! We didnt see any while we there but there loads of people about so didnt expect to. We decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal out, so stopped at the restaurant on teh back of the Sea Baths for food. Had a “trio of dips + pittas” for starters to share, which were very tasty. Pitta’s are like proper pitta’s. Nothing like the hard, thin pitta’s we used to have in the UK. For main, Becca had the “Fishermans Basket” which was full of a squillion different pieces of fish/seafood/shrimp, and I have a Barrimundi fillet, which was the tastiest piece of fish Ive had in ages! It was like steak it was so meaty! We plan on going back there during the week as they have a special $20 lunch which is about £8, and its 3 courses + a glass of wine. Only a tad more expensive than a bloody big mac meal! Bargain!And Laura, was REALLY good to hear from you (even if it was just “Hello - is Becca there!”). I hope you had a good party, and hope you didnt get too upset! I’ll smack you if you cried! I hope you plan on telling us all the juicy details WITH photos!Supposed to be nice day tomorrow so I guess we’ll be up to hi-jinks again!