Archives for February 2011

Three weeks into unemployment

February 26, 2011 by Jen

It is now my three week anniversary of being unemployed. I was all right up until a few days ago. I had something to look forward to last week because I had a job interview and I had a few days away.

Now that both of these are over with the prospect of I don’t know how much time out of work looms before me and I’m having a hard time adjusting. Everyone keeps saying that something will turn up and I guess something will but I’m impatient and I like to be in control and this situation is so out of my control that I’m not quite sure what to do.

I have been wallowing in self pity a bit the last few days but know that this mindset will get me nowhere so I’m trying my best to lift myself out of this funk.

Even though people moan and groan about having to go to work, and I’ve been one of those, it’s not until you don’t have a job to go to that you really want to get back to moaning and groaning about going back to work.

I’ve been on the phone to Centrelink (to get unemployment benefits) and have to go and see them on Monday. I hate that whole process but I need some money coming in while I search for work even though it is a pittance.

My son said to me this morning that I should start my own business and I have thought about it and I have even talked about it here but I don’t think I’m cut out for it. And bless him, he also said that I’m the smartest person he knows that knows about computers and the like.

In the meantime I’m putting on my positive attitude because the non-positive one really didn’t make me feel that good at all. I’ve also found myself a project to be carrying along with – something to occupy my days. I might also even get around to finishing off painting my bedroom. For some reason I didn’t paint the bedroom door and I did the rest of the room six years ago. Talk about procrastination.

Oh, and the interview I went to last week? I didn’t get that job. I’d felt like something was a bit wrong at the interview and that I didn’t quite have whatever they were looking for. What I am finding is that there are some jobs out there that want the type of experience I’ve got but don’t want to pay what I want to earn and what I think is a reasonable sum to earn. How is it that someone can advertise a job for someone to come up with strategies, implement these strategies and liaise with senior staff and so on, and not compensate them properly for this?

Just in case there’s anyone out there who reads this who has a fabulous job available for an online content (web and social media) type person, I’m your woman.

Still need food

February 16, 2011 by Jen

What’s a girl to do when she’s out of a job? Why go out for lunches of course. Well I won’t be making a habit of it because I’m not earning money at the moment but I met up with an old friend a week ago for lunch. He was in town to celebrate his 50th and I haven’t had a good catchup with him for years.

I met him and his wife separately about 20 years ago before they met each other. Him through a friend I used to date and her through an old school friend – they did nursing together.

The next day I went into the Central Market to do a bit of food shopping and I also met The Surfer for some lunch. On our way to the restaurant I heard my name being called out and it was my mate I’d seen for lunch the previous day. How’s that for a coincidence?

My next mission is to find some well-priced Chinese food that is tasty. We’ve had too many bland Chinese meals.

Indeed it’s a Big Day Out

February 9, 2011 by Jen

Last October The Surfer didn’t know what to get me for my birthday and after a bit of thinking I suggested a Big Day Out ticket. I haven’t been to one of these since the year 2000 – the year I became pregnant with JJ.

It was a fairly warm and quite humid day so we went suitably attired with hats and sunscreen. It didn’t help that the humidity probably made us sweat off all the sunscreen.

I know these two fellas below and had to capture their t-shirts.

The Big Day Out is a pretty well-oiled machine and because it’s become bigger than it was 11 years ago I noticed a few changes.

One is that you have to buy drink tokens which makes going to the bar a lot quicker. For a can of beer it was two tokens, ie $7. We were lucky enough to have guest services bar passes which meant that we could pay for drinks in cash, sit down in comfort indoors and had access to our own toilets. There’s always a big queue for the ladies at things like this so that was a blessing although the bar staff (and I asked two) didn’t know of these toilets even though they were just outside one of the doors. I had to discover them for myself. I’m sure it’s a tiring gig working all day at the Big Day Out but a bit more friendly customer service wouldn’t go astray. At one stage I was obviously waiting at the bar and saw that two bar staff were standing one metre away from me. I had to approach them for service!

Here’s three of our group in the bar between music.

Not everyone’s lucky enough to have access to this bar to cool off so there are things like this. It’s a mist dome – a very pretty one. This one provided some shade as well. There were other spray type tents that had more water so you could just go and soak yourself to cool down.

Here’s The Surfer getting some spray.

‘Big Day Out. Insert wisdom here…’ Not sure what it says underneath.

Musically, we started off watching The Jim Jones revue who were really good. They were recommended by a friend and I’m glad that we got there to see them. I’d like to see them again too.

Then we had a bit of a break before the late afternoon when our schedule was jam packed. We saw a few things including Gyroscope. We did pop along to the silent disco around 5.

I’ve never been to one before and it’s good fun, especially with a group. You go in and get given a set of headphones. There are three channels for three different choices of music, or in this case two. So there are two DJs who are competing to get you to listen to their tracks.

At one stage Beastie Boys were on – Fight for your Right to Party and we must have all been on the same channel because we were singing along. It’s funny watching people dancing to a different tune.

Early evening onwards was when the other bands that we wanted to see were on. Firstly Iggy Pop and the Stooges whom I’ve never seen before. Iggy was a bit of a dot in the distance but we could hear them well enough and had room to move. He’s up there somewhere.

Here’s myself and a couple of friends at the guest services bar. I’ve either got my eyes and my mouth wide open in shots like this or my mouth and eyes closed. Hmmm.

After a rest we saw Primal Scream who did the Screamadelica album they released about 20 years ago. There’s some great songs on there. While they were a bit slow to start with, by the end of the show they were rocking. I’m glad I hung around and saw them to the end. It was quite a change from the last time I saw them at the last Big Day Out I went to in 2000 where they did their new stuff.

Lastly, but definitely not least, we saw Grinderman fronted by one of my favourite musicians, Nick Cave. Grinderman were so energetic and fabulous. It helps knowing the music but even though I’m reasonably familiar with it, it’s much better seeing them live and getting the gist of the music and lyrics in a way that you just can’t by only listening to music on a stereo.

We finished off the day with a Chip on a Stick – one potato cut up in a continuous chip that’s put on a stick and then we caught the tram home. My legs were in absolute pain from standing up most of the day – something I’m not used to. It took me a few days to recover but I’m definitely glad I went.

My how things change

February 8, 2011 by Jen

I am unemployed. It’s a very long time since I said that, in fact it would be nearly 20 years since I was unemployed but I’ve never been ‘let go’ before because there wasn’t enough work to keep my job afloat.

Six months ago I resigned from an organisation I’d been in for 16 years because I needed a fresh outlook and I wanted to do something different. In the back of my head I realised that it probably wasn’t the ‘safest’ option, but I did it anyway. After all, I figured, surely with the skills I’ve got I would get another job if it came to that and now I really hope it does.

I’ve got two weeks pay then a bit of annual leave and after that I’m on my own financially, apart from any government benefits I might be entitled to. I’ve no husband or partner that will help keep me afloat. It’s me. I’m the sole breadwinner.

Luckily I don’t lead an extravagant lifestyle. My cleaner will go but that’s the only luxury I really have that I will curtail. I will keep my iPhone and the monthly fee that goes with it, and I will also keep my broadband connection at home. Neither of these are really cheap but they are two things that will hopefully aid me in my job search.

I was surprisingly upbeat and optimistic about it all until last night when I started to feel sorry for myself. I felt kind of empty and a bit lost. I soon snapped myself out of it because it’s easy to think about others who are doing it harder than me. I read a status update of a friend on Facebook this morning from a friend who’s doing it pretty tough health wise. I recently reconnected with her via Facebook after about 25 years. She’s got serious health problems. She’s lost about 70kg of weight in the last few months and despite numerous doctor and hospital visits her condition goes undiagnosed. I can’t imagine how that feels. At least I have my health.

And there’s other stories I read that make me realise that temporarily being out of a job isn’t the worst thing that can happen in my life.

At the back of mind I”m slightly freaking out that I won’t get a job very quickly and I’ll have to exist on government benefits which I don’t want to do.

In the meantime I need to keep myself occupied during the day while my son’s at school which I am sure I will manage.

What family board games?

February 3, 2011 by Jen

It’s been pretty damn hot around these parts during the last week or so. We spent most of the weekend at The Surfer’s place. It was the last week of school holidays and I took Thursday and Friday off after the public holiday for Australia Day on Wednesday.

I took the photo above after we’d been for a walk on the beach. Incase you didn’t notice the Male toilet sign it’s there in the top left corner. I liked the artwork on the building’s wall, and that’s my shadow too.

As it was hot and we’d been to the beach early we setup the Monopoly board and had an epic game in three sittings. Silly JJ didn’t want to join in so he had to find something to do that didn’t involve anything electronic. Sometimes the kids just spend too much time on the Xbox, DS, computer etc. You get the picture.

I didn’t land on anything very good real-estate wise in Monopoly but I was second out of the game. Towards the end I never quite know how it works trying to sell off properties either to other players or the bank so we probably broke some of the rules.

I’d like to know what board games people play that can involve the whole family. Perhaps ones that can be played in a shorter time frame than a full Monopoly game.