28 June 2014

Stories

First story. The other week we had a little rat problem. I went outside and heard something rustling. Next thing I know a big shiny brown rat jumped out from behind the rubbish bag and ran off towards the garden. Probably because my horrible flatmates put food in the rubbish bad without wrapping it properly. So I put the rubbish bag into the recycling bin thinking that way the rat wouldn't be able to rip into it. A few nights later, I opened the door and Cher started getting all excited. I crept down the steps and gave the recycling bin a nudge with my foot, then jumped back quick as that big brown rat jumped out of the bin and raced off into the garden again. Cher chased it, which did no good because it had disappeared, and she simply trampled my garden for awhile. I didn't want to put poison out because there are so many cats and dogs around, and I didn't think I could handle getting a trap and then having to deal with a dead rat. On one more occasion I saw the rat - it was one of the first nights that my new flatmate was here (more about that soon) and we heard a noise outside. Again I crept down the steps and gave the recycling bin a nudge. Nothing happened, so I gave the other bin a nudge and out ran the rat - with Cher right after it again. I jumped and screamed a little. And decided that enough was enough. That night I put out rat poison, and I reckon the rat ate some of it because it looked disturbed. I haven't seen it since. But just to be sure we got a proper bin to put the rubbish bag in.

So a second story? OK, Cher and I were at the park because it was horrible and rainy and I didn't feel like going for a proper walk and coming home with wet feet. The park gets sort of muddy and swampy so I stayed on the pavement under the shelter of the veranda (there is a clubhouse/bathrooms sort of building) and I kicked the ball for Cher from there. Which was fun, except just the one time she wouldn't bring it all the way back to me, she stopped about a metre off. So I thought, that's OK, I'll just step onto the grass, my shoes will still stay dry. I stepped onto the grass and kicked the ball, and in the same movement my non-kicking foot slid in the mud and next thing you know I have landed on my butt in the mud, leaving a big muddy patch all over my butt, up my back and down my arms where I tried to catch myself. So that's what I get for trying to be nice to the stupid dog. From now on she can just bring it all the way to me instead.

In other news, I have one new and much better flatmate (have I mentioned that already?) and we have finally found another one to move in next week. Hopefully it will all work out OK. My job at the ministry has pretty much finished and I have not even had any interviews for other jobs yet, let alone an offer. There is always the museum to fall back on, but it is low season and there are no special exhibits on so there will probably not be much work to be had. I have to finish of my course work for the publishing diploma in the next week and I'm way behind because my computer died on me. Plus my PhD publications are up in the air - one is meant to be submitted on Monday but I have no idea if I'm supposed to be submitting it or my supervisor is. Serious lack of communication. And writing some good job applications is way higher on my priority list than that is. They can just make do without me if they must. So now today has been lovely and sunny and I have been very busy because there is so much to get done of the weekend. Yet despite being busy all day I've done no work on my job applications or course work so I best get started on that now. 

06 June 2014

Still alive and kicking

Right so I know I haven't bothered to write for ages but it's pretty hard to find a spare moment; in between working, studying, job-hunting, flatmate-hunting, dog-walking and life stuff I mostly only have energy to lie on the couch in an exhausted stupor. Basically life is the same as last time I wrote, except for one big thing, which is my awful flatmates finally left. It got a bit messy in the end but who cares now that it's all over. I have one new flatmate already, a much better one who was keen to make friends with the dog. Now I just need to find a second before covering the rent impoverishes me. What else is new? Let's see. My job will keep on going for about another month. Today my manager finally brought it up, asked how I was doing on my job hunt and said hopefully there will be enough work to see me through until July. The other team members will slowly drop off though. Still, it's good news for me, hopefully a new job will show up but if not, I might be able to get enough work at the museum. And my current job will pay the bills until my TV is paid off and then I will be out of debt. Except last week I had a bit of a scare when my computer half died, right when I'm so bus with study and job applications. Luckily the guy at Noel Leeming actually knew about computers and managed to make it work, and cleaned out all the temporary files which it turned out had been taking up a huge proportion of my hard-drive. Still, it's still a bit dodgy and will probably need to be sent away for fixing soon enough. Plus I dropped my ipod the other morning and now I might need a new one of them too.

It's not all bad though, after all I have started running again, every other morning with the dog. It's rough so early though and it's usually still dark. Cher enjoys it, I think she is still surprised that I run along with her instead of trudging behind. Having a new flatmate makes the entire house much more enjoyable to be in, I wish I could afford the rest of the rent myself so I didn't have to try find a third. It's warmer here now too, because the landlords installed a cool ventilation system, there's a fancy control panel on the wall and everything. The jobs that I have been applying for are all editor positions, I have had no interviews yet but I have some time yet. I found some time to plant bulbs in my garden - my attempts to grow vegetables didn't really work so I've decided to stick to flowers.

While I"m sure interesting and funny things have been going on that would make for a good story, I cannot think of any right now. I am much too tired, getting up at 6.30 every morning is a bit much for me and I wish I didn't have to! It makes the weekend better, but I can't sleep in much because Cher won't let me. Right now she is whining though so I think it might be bedtime.