Pages

8 October 2016

Letters to Marlis-October 2016 Edition

Melbourne, 5 October 2016

Hi Marlis,

It’s about time I wrote to you again! Hope you are doing well now that the temperature is starting to climb into the 20’s again and summer time is here. I can’t believe it’s been eight week since I last wrote, time seems to have flown by since we came back from our trip around the globe. Well, I’ve been quite busy myself, so here’s the update on what we’ve been up to. It’s not so extensive as the previous letter, most of it would be just work, which I think is just too boring to read (and write J)

Salvation Army Volunteering
The whole month of August and a bit of September I’ve been working for the Salvation Army here in Melbourne. They call it Project 614, which focuses on the homeless and other people in need from the humanitarian more than the religious point of view. I was so impressed with the dedication and acceptance that every single one of them brings to the job, I felt very humbled every day I was there. I had to adjust quite a bit to all the things (mostly miserable) that you hear all day and then there’s the many homeless hanging around the building. Some of them are very friendly and calm, some of them are a bit more troubled and some of them are just really, really in need of some professional help. My job was just computer work, helping them sort their thousands of volunteer files into something they can use faster and for more purposes. It was easy work, just a really big pile of data and sometime so very boring that I was happy that the day was done. Still felt pretty good to get back into things workwise, while I was applying for jobs.

My new Job
I did the whole application routine when we got back from the trip. Not all my applications were equally good, but I got a couple of rejections, 2 interviews and 1 offer from Department of Health and Human Services Victoria (State Government) to come and work with them. I did not really have much else to do so I decided to take it on. I am now the Executive Officer to the Chief Transformation Officer.. Sounds pretty fancy eh?! Haha, I am basically a glorified secretary, but the people are nice and the job is not too hard although the politics are a bit tiresome sometimes.

We’re working to realise the 227 recommendations made by the Royal Commission into family Violence and Child Abuse. Very worthwhile work, but not exactly light reading. I’ll spare you the details; let’s just say that it’s challenging enough to keep me entertained. I’ve been there for 4 weeks now and most people love me (because I get their things done), but we’re all very new in this new part of the organisation. It’s only been in existence for about 2 months, so all the teething issues are out there for us to deal with first.

My boss is another woman with a plan, I seem to attract them J and we get along well enough, she’s also from the ACT, as is another new colleague so we’ve got plenty to talk about whenever I miss the ACT (which I still do). I work long days (8am-6pm) and get things done, not much more I need. I am also pretty sure this is not a career for me, but for now it’s a nice way of starting my work life in Melbourne, I’ll see where it all lands eventually, perhaps I will stay, perhaps I will continue on as a self-employed person, time will tell. As a funny coincidence, both my best friends, Just and Alex, also started their new jobs in September, so we’re all good for excitement a little while longer

My old job
I heard just last week that the Shared Service Centre that I used to work for in the ACT has gone belly up in a rather exciting display of political fireworks and hostile take-overs. As I always feared, the CEO that I worked for was doomed to fail without the support from her managers (the Secretaries for Education and Employment) and it all ended quite badly. I was still very sorry to hear it as I spend some of my best days working with the people up there. I doubt the new mob will do any better as long as government cannot seem to make up their minds about what they want to do with this part of their business.

Garden and Melbourne living
The garden, well, the grass really, is doing very well. I’ve used the electric mower a couple of times now and it’s still a very silly process. It takes me about 15 minutes to prepare and clean up and all of 2 minutes to actually cut the grass! And then the next week it all starts again. I swear to you, I can actually see it grow about 3cm every day which is just ridiculous. Today was nice, when I got to sit on my own lawn in the sun for the first time. Yumi and I go out quite a bit, eat out, to the movies or just for a walk and Melbourne starts to grow on us very slowly. We’re thinking about moving to an apartment now that we only have 1 cat left and she hardly want to go outside anyway, but that’s only 6 months from now, so there’s no rush just yet.



Cycling
My new job allows me to cycle about 15km a day and every day is still a bit of an adventure. I do really like the ride in and out, because it clears my head a lot before I get home, but it’s not without some danger. Some people really should not be in cars, they are a danger to themselves and everyone else around them. I’ve had a couple of near misses so far and amazingly enough, those people still get angry at me. I think they react that way because they just got a massive scare, but it’s not a lot of fun to get yelled at all the same J.
I have a backup option to take the metro, when it rains really bad, but whenever I can I just put on my suit and helmet and cycle in, which is a great start to the day.

Kendo
I decided to quit kendo a couple of weeks back. It’s just not for me, which is a relief and disappointment at the same time. Yumi is still training and will probably continue, but I will have to find something else to do. I am thinking about archery or maybe pistol shooting, for now I am happy to just not do too much and focus on my new job, but I know that after a while I want to pick up something new so next week Saturday I’ll go for an introductory course in archery as a birthday present from Yumi My actual birthday is the day after, 9 October, when I turn 38, which is also the celebration of Yumi and me being together for 19 years. By that time she’s been part of my life for more than half of my life, which is pretty cool right?

Road trip and holiday plans
This weekend was AFL final weekend (go Bulldogs!!), which means that the Melbournians had the Friday off. We think that’s really silly but they take AFL VERY seriously here. Yumi and I took the opportunity to travel the Great Ocean Road again, after not having been there for nearly 4 years. We drove all the way to Port Fairy and it was still a beautiful ride, but not as magical as the first time when we were so impressed with all that majestic nature. It was still very good to see the ocean and spend some time together just talking and looking at the scenery. The Friday was very nice with great weather and sun for most of the day. The Saturday was not so great, but halfway through the sun still made an appearance and the good thing about everybody watching the final was that we had large stretches of road to ourselves. We saw koalas in the wild, some beautiful views along the coast, a couple of black wallabies and free roaming emus to top it all off. It’s always nice to travel, but equally nice to return home and take it easy a bit. We’re planning to go diving during the Christmas break, probably in Cairns. Maybe we’ll do a live-aboard dive trip for 4 days and then spend some time up north seeing the country side. I think that would be good after being cooped up on a boat with the same people for 4 days in a row J

I think that’s most of it for now. Once I’ve settled in at work a bit more I can give you some more detail about what it is I do, right now I am still figuring that out myself.

Be well and enjoy the summer time

Gilbert





No comments:

Post a Comment