That was then

11/04

There maybe something to be said for staying busy:

• Contract essay due a week earlier than expected. Having planned to spend the w/e doing a bit of reading around the two subject areas, getting a feel for the particularities to be considered, and sending out emails to a few people offering preliminary thoughts, I then discovered it was due on 08/04 :o Given that I was also going to spend the w/e doing other things, like writing an application for a NDIS position and/or cleaning up, you might say that I did not get a lot of other things done! Mind you, on Saturday night I thought to get out, take Zeffa for a walk, clear the head, letting the thoughts come to an equilibrium. So stopped at Beav’s for a stout, where I also reclined into my favourite couch, did a bit of net surfing, and found some decent quotes from B. Then off to Union St for a glass of Sangiovese, which even came with complimentary bits of cork! An interesting little place - the sort of place it would be good to sit down at and pontificate for awhile? They had a lot of wines (as you would expect), and seemed to serve variations on tapas, or at least, easy to eat bar nibbles with a twist. For what ever reason I called into E&C for a glass of beer, which was kind of interesting, due to the happy little atmosphere of the place :) There were a lot of happy people there, but I was too inebriated to do much more than goggle about, like a fish out of water. Anyway, although it left me quite drained, it did have the advantage of calming the jitters - ended up citing, with varying depth, about 20 cases … later I looked at some of the other essays, and they did not use such a depth, but argued the points better. The lessons from this is that I am going to need to be able to discuss the law better, and then provide supporting cases, I think - reminds me in someway of Gibson’s ‘consensual hallucination’ the way(s) that ‘we’ all agree on specifics. Anyway, went to bed on Sunday thinking to let it percolate, and spent the train ride on Monday reading the textbook, got home Monday night and played with a few things, but pretty much left it the same. Also had to submit the EOI for the APS4 position, so in light of my decision to actually do things, I drafted up an application for submission. I think. Actually, see the previous posting. Slept on it, then got up Tuesday, could not think of much else to change, so submitted it … then saw some of the other essays, which made me reconsider my approaches;
• Vicki turns out to be a bloke. On Thursday, I get a text saying that my ad (on the DUSA site) had elicited a response, and that they were keen to move in soonest. So I said come by, when is good? Turned out that soonest was literal! Anyway, turns out to be a fellow and his mate, who wanted a fully furnished room, high speed broadband, common rooms, and the $100/week was to cover all bills as well … His mate was a bit OTT, whereas I was trying to open grounds for negotiation/compromise - after all, I have always felt that we can talk about these things :) On the one hand, it would be good: he would be quiet, he is studying a MIT, could be a reasonable aspect for a mid term lodger, and he seemed to be nice, but … ‘he’ not ’she’, what is source of money? significant initial capital investment, and how would it be recovered? seemed to lack interaction skills - thought I was shy! Still, on the train back, especially when I thought it was a ’she’ I did expend quite a bit of thought trying out various scenarios, as the enthusiasm was a tad disconcerting (turns out that the more established options are already taken), as well as having to actually live with somebody. Anyway, got home and spent a bit of time cleaning up, which at least means that the place looks a bit better now! Oh, I do not know … what to do, what to do???;
• Interview for APS4. It was part of the getting on & doing things … Anyway, it did result in an interview. Which resulted in being selected for the pool :) The interview was with Kala and Leanne, with Sub sitting there as the scribe, but more as the ’truth’ post IMHO. Questions were: what skills/experience? We work in a scheduled environment. How do you deal with flexibility? and, How did you respond to an identified learning developmental need? The interview itself was reasonably short - it had been allotted 30 minutes, but it lasted only 20 minutes. I guess the remainder was for the collation of notes, etc.? Hoang was (and continues to be) quite odd about the whole process! Provided some guidance to align what she had initially wrote, to emphasise the ‘doing’ by providing examples of work completed - emphasise that have done work (of a similar ilk) and can do the same here. Took onboard what Ramirez said re use of 2 examples, indicate policy skills, and discussion of strategic vision (or at least an awareness of the strategic direction, and how I contribute to that). Since then Hoang has been on tenter hooks, so was quite elated with her selection … must remember to be more encouraging, make more reference to it in conversation … still have a lot of difficulty with contextual remembrances, I think. Ramirez was leaving Friday night, stopped by for some trivial miss mash, then got to the meat - “so, how did you do?” to which I replied that his report made all the difference … ah, the look on his face;) It is unfortunate that I find it hard to dissemble from direct questions (Have you seen it?”), to have left him with an implication, but, I guess, it makes me a ‘better’ person? yeah, it is funny … and it will be funnier to see what eventuates;
• Cooking with Jamie MoF. The ‘dreaded’ moment arrived - and wouldn’t you know it, but the one time I can NOT afford to be late on a call, this is the one time that a caller wants to chat! I am a farmer; was going to pay, but waiting for fruit to dry, etc. etc. So (fortunately) I handed off to Deb to take the call, and scooted - a tad late, but I DID run to the station :o to find that the train was waiting for a driver, and so did not leave for another 5 minutes … then there was some congestion getting through the outskirts of Melbourne … but I was still the first one to be at class :o and Felix was really, really close to the point of exclusion. Not that I could convey that too well. I think he has come back from Adelaide on the manic upswing - smoking, wanted to go riding :o and go visit Alley Cats. Oh well, therein lies the rub, I suppose? Anyway, first thing they do is get everyone to wash hands, put on an apron, listen to the OH&S briefing. Couple of cheeky birds there, who were then joined by their husbands, one of which was Ross Parkes. Seems an oddly shy person - spent a lot of time watching his body language and listening to conversation? Must be hard to be a man around town, ‘instantly’ recognisable (although, to be far, I did not recognise him for awhile), and then try to relax in public? But he seems a good ‘egg’ … which is what we cooked :) The pattern seems to be that we are shown what to do, how to do it, and then we get to have a go ourselves. So, we boiled (add to boiled water - 5 minutes for soft boiled, 7 minutes for medium, and 10 minutes for hard boiled), poached (gentle simmer, add to water gently, one at a time), and omelette (gentle heat, fold into middle as you go, add ingredients, then fold in half to rest). Following class was a massive clean up operation, but it seemed quite confused, e.g. sweeping prior to finishing the cleaning of the benches. Also thought it a bit odd that we cleaned down the stovetop, and had only used it o boil water … Each week seems to be about learning new skills, then applying them by undertaking a recipe - next week is to be carne and guacamole. Yum! Best remember to take my storage containers; and,
• Contribution to send G to Brisbane. In the spirit of not having to go myself :p I slipped G $200 to assist with costs - should I have asked for a receipt, or confirmation that was already expended? Maybe I am too trusting? Anyway, in some ways, I probably would have spent that anyway, as he had invited himself to come by for the weekend … am still not entirely comfortable with him, after what he expressed, and the way that he behaved, when he came to visit, and I took him over whilst I was doing Wendy’s ceiling - what a one sided deal that was!!! Anyway, be that as it may, I get that this is his version of trying to beat up on me, which he fails to do physically, but I really would rather that he not do such things! Maybe that is why I no longer communicate with ‘people’ - perhaps not accepting it in other people means that it is not accepted by me? Or maybe it is also all about that I am not who I was ...