Time flies?

Whoa! Nearly two years since I last posted. Clearly I'm as dedicated to this as I am to... what? Getting fit? Finding a decent job?

So, since I last posted, a lot, and at the same time so little, has happened. The days click by and I'm still just lost, wandering in some wilderness, wondering if this is what life is for.

I got a job. But I loathe it and the boss, and the conditions. It's in a warehouse, doing manual labour. It's ridiculously low paid - about a third of the wage and working twice as hard as my former long-term job - filthy, noisy, may as well be outdoors because it's so freakin' cold... I spend a lot of time wanting to cry about how my life has come to this.

And thinking that I totally would not have gotten my degree if I'd known things were going to turn out this way.

Boo hoo.

Hello again

So. I've had another day's work. Two days of paid work in two years. Outstanding.

Centrelink is unbelievably crappy. Wanna know how much you can earn before it cuts into the dole? I would have thought $200 a week would be reasonable, so I guessed it would be more like $100. I was so wrong. A person can earn the sizeable total of $31 a week before it affects the dole. You heard me.

Anyway. Turns out there's another book I've started re-reading as soon as I finished it. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. First thing of his I've read, and since he killed himself in September 2008, he won't be producing anything else soon. Quick sum-up: I very much enjoyed the book, despite its size, lengthy and sometimes (in my opinion) unnecessary footnotes. Although I enjoyed it, I had to re-read it out of confusion. First, it's really bloody long - 1000 or so pages with the footnotes - and very complex. Plus I found the ending so confusing I went back to the beginning to see if that would ease my confusion. I'm only half way through the second reading, so I'll fill you in again when I finish the re-read.

My sister's wedding is less than a month away. Bridesmaid's dresses still not received (or paid for). So I can't buy shoes... looks like that's gonna be another last minute thing. Just like have the adjustments to the dresses done. Joy.

No hope

Of course I didn't get the job. That's the way my fucked-up life goes.

Anyway. Tomorrow I've got a day of paid work. One day. After almost two years of searching.

Sucks to be me.

I could have a job

Bloody hell. It's taken more than two years from the time I was told my former job was being made redundant, to the redundancy taking effect, through 17 months of searching for employment. It's been a nightmare - financially, self-esteem-wise... in so many ways.

But I'm waiting to hear if I've got a part-time job until November. It's not my dream role, but it's a paying position. And god knows I need it for my confidence, to avoid becoming homeless, and lots of other reasons.

Fingers crossed!

Update: Friday So, I had a phone interview for this job a couple of weeks ago. Next Thursday, I'll meet one of the people with who (whom?) I had the interview. Experience tells me they'll then change their minds and I won't get it. Still, fingers crossed (just a little less tightly).

New PM

So. Julia's PM, Kevin's out. Stoked! Some people have expressed concern about "the way it happened". Pffft. That's politics, or pretty much any job, I say. If you're not performing, and have lost the support of your peers (and in this case, people giving their views to opinion polls) you're out.

Perhaps people are uncomfortable with the timing of Kev going, given the appearance of instability in the ALP so close to a looming election. Again, pffffft. Should Labor have stuck with someone who was clearly becoming a political liability, therefore giving up any electoral lead it might/may still have? I don't think so. And yes, I'm concerned the voting public won't accept a female PM, and one given little time to prove herself (or otherwise) before the election, but I'd rather it this way than stumbling through to the election with Rudd being accused of arrogance, failure to listen, surrounding himself with yes-men, etc.

And that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Comments on the blog's new look? I like the colour scheme much more than the previous one. Otherwise, not much going on in my life. Trying to get back into journalism and scaring crap out of myself in the process, plus fighting writer's block. Off to a friend's wedding next weekend. It's going to be formal so I'm dragging out an old dress. That's scary in itself! And never let it be said this blog focuses only on the big or small picture: here we've got the nation and the individual mentioned... in one post no less.

Sucks to be me

That is all.

Oh, and happy winter.

Ranting

You know what? Potential employers with unrealistic expectations can take their McJobs and shove them.

I've recently been rejected for a job, for the umpteenth time in these 16 months of unemployment. No surprise there. It was a two day a week admin role, earning a grand total of $259 each week before tax. But after the interview - which took place with four hours' notice, and meant I had to re-arrange travel plans. Fuckers - the arseholes said they'd decided to not go with me because I'd been honest about the fact that I'd have to look for another job to fit in around the two day a week role.

So what they really wanted was someone with full-time availability for approximately half of the legislated minimum wage. Realistically, the only people I can think of in that position are stay-at-home parents, with partners earning a gazillion dollars, who just want to earn play money. Totally not me, in other words.

Anyway.


In other news, the cunt who said the job I had for seven years was redundant has been asked to leave the organisation... because they're a fucking useless waste of space (the person, not the organisation). Of course, it's been phrased as "seeking other opportunities" but the reality is they were really bad at their job, the organisation's profile has taken a major battering because of it, and their contract wasn't renewed at very short notice. What a shame. I hope it takes them at least two years to find another role. Cunt.