The Phantom's Opera

what the?

2008-09-19T10:14:50Z

So I went to 2 more recruitment companies today.

The first recruitment consultant a) didn't tell me where I had to go, so I had to find out myself (yes, I realise that's not a difficult task, but every other recruitment place tells you their address!!) ...and b) when I called to say "where exactly are you; I'm a bit confused" she said, sarcastically, "Now, do you think you can manage to find your way here?"

*twitch, twitch*

Then, after I'd met with her, apologised profusely for being a bit late, and gone through the usual recruitment company questions, she asked: "Do you think you'll be ok to find your way home?"

I wonder what made her think she had the right to be so patronising? I really detest people sometimes. And how is she going to market me? "Admin person...a bit like Betty on 'Hey Dad'" ??

Perth is so tiny it freaks me out somtimes...

2008-09-03T07:31:18Z

This is what happens when you google your nerdy bf...you find this:

Door and Coke Group meeting minutes -- 2000/05/12
-------------------------------------------------

Attendance
----------

nick Nick Bannon
gbowland Grahame Bowland
mtearle Mark Tearle

Apologies
---------
ben Ben Rampling
luyer David Luyer
sarah Sarah Kael
fryers Simon Fryer
mjdawson Michael Dawson
griffin Stephen Griffiths
melissa Melissa Challenor
japester Jean-Paul Blaquiere
davidb David Basden
dichro Mikolaj J. Habryn
silver Yeroen Meyer
dunc Duncan Sargeant
duffill Helen Duffill
andrew Andrew Williams
fitz Tom Lynch
cameronm Cameron MacFarland
shuruga Anita Mathers
maset Anil Sharma
yakk Ian McKellar
acolyte Andrew Bailey
dayta Leighton Haynes
djinn Peter Wilsmore
maelstrm Chris Grubb
mrorange Colm Kiely
omailes Oliver Mailes
mustang David Manchester
alastair Alastair Irvine

Agenda
------

o Attendance Check
o Duties of door group
o Duties of coke group
o General business

Minutes
-------

Meeting declared open 5:42pm by Grahame.

Grahame advices attending door group and coke group members
to be aware of the current situation in Cameron Hall. He also
prays to whatever deity that doorgroup members giving apologies
read their email.

In short, Cameron Hall will be inspected by the Guild and possibly
the University on Thursday the 18th at 5pm. We need the clubroom in
a good condition then, and onwards. Door group members are directed to
report any problems (people littering, etc) to wheel@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au.
Accounts will be locked for one week or until an acceptable apology and
reassurance that it will not occur again.

Cull of door and coke groups:

The following have been removed from door group:
--> ack alluria bers gwydion james prep stan unclemib wazza
The following have been removed from coke group:
--> bers john wazza

Meeting closed 6:05pm.

I'm amused (and a little freaked out) that not only are three of the people on the above list are linked to me on Lj, but I met each of them independently! What the??

...

2008-05-26T13:05:53Z

So, nothing earth-shattering has happened. I'm still breathing, which could be viewed as a positive.

Worried about silverski though...spends all his time worrying about my medical problems and then doesn't do much about his own. *worries*

I'll be 26 soon.

Hm. What the?

....musing a little...

2008-05-18T14:32:49Z

I'm a big fan of "in love." ...always have been. Ever since I was old enough to know what it meant, I'd read stories about finding The One, and being swept off your feet, and having that certain feeling that you've found someone you'd do anything for, who'd do anything for you; someone who'd always be there for you, watching your back, taking care of you, encouraging your talents, catching you when you fall, and all of those other clichés.

I'm lucky to have found it. What's surprised me most, and recently, is that after the first fortnight or so of repeated grinning, and the giddyness, and the loved-up, "he's so sweet" feeling...that sort of mellowed. The love didn't go, or anything, it was just...less crazy. And I thought, that's pretty standard, it stops after a while and just settles into something else....

It came back. A fair while after settling into "calm love", I had the week from hell...actually, it was more like 2 weeks of hell...just in this past month...and my Yeroen was so good, and supportive, and just...him...and I know this is going to sound like such an awfully overused line... but I really did fall for him all over again! And it was even better the second time around.

He's such a lovely, calming influence...he makes my world ok again, just by cuddling me or smiling at me or texting me an "I love you."

I'm a very lucky girl.

Aargh!

2008-04-28T07:48:53Z

Further to mynxii‘s comments the other day, let me just say: Screw this.

Why do people assume that because you do Admin, you’re obviously not as clever as they are? Everyone else here has at least one degree. I do not. Does that mean that it’s logical for management to assume that I haven’t checked something? Have I lost the ability to read? Our Case Management system actually gave me the information in the first place. Our super-efficient, automated system, generated tasks for me to do…which it does every single day…and I did them. Why does that make me an idiot who deserves a snarky email from a manager, who has also copied the Operations Manager into it??

I am so sick of being treated like a moron!

Life, death and the world in general...

2007-12-10T07:19:42Z

We went to a funeral on Friday. A friend of ours. He went to school with Grae. It was typically awful, as funerals for young people generally are, but at the same time it was a fitting send off for a fantastic person. There was no glossing over his personality quirks.

Anyhow, my “What The” concerns our friend’s ex girlfriend. They broke up before Grae and I were married – over 3 years ago. We knew H (our friend) had some problems, however, when the ex gf arrived at the cemetery, and Grae asked whether she’d spoken to H’s mother, she said “Yes…but they knew…they knew when he started getting into the bad sh*t that this was going to happen….but that’s not why. That’s not why it happened.” My first point: Even if a family is aware that their son and brother has been fighting a substance addiction, does it make it ok when he dies? Because they were expecting it? That was the first thing that made Grae and I realise we didn’t want to be talking to this girl.

Later on, after a group of us, namely H’s school friends plus myself – as the only one who had married into the group – had tried for a number of hours to extricate ourselves from aforementioned ex gf (who had behaved all through the service as if she’d been married to H for many years…loud sobbing and wailing, causing even his mother to raise an eyebrow), and failed at attempts to extricate ourselves, decided that she wasn’t going to take the hint, so we made plans to just go back to another friends house. Grae and I ended up with the joyous task of giving this girl a lift. She then proceeded to berate Grae and I for not taking her to her house to pick up her sh*t.” In this case, she meant her stash of marijuana. We refused point blank. “Come on, man, it’s only weed” was her whiney excuse. (Clearly we missed the memo saying that weed is now a safe drug).

My second point: if you have just been to the funeral of someone you care about, who passed away as a result of a substance addiction that had worsened an existing physical condition, would you not suddenly wake up and realise “Hey, maybe I shouldn’t be touching this stuff” ? The substance he was addicted to wasn’t what people would consider hard core – actually, it’s used in hospitals all the time - but it was still a drug. Yes, he did already have a health problem. Does that make the addiction irrelevant? And why are Grae and I the buzz killers for refusing to have anything to do with drugs??

What the hell is wrong with people? H is gone. Our good friend. He’s not coming back. We don’t want anything to do with any substance which made his condition worse, and yet his pathetic ex gf, who made a big show of how distraught she was, tried to make us feel bad for not helping her acquire that crap.

LMAO wtf?!

2007-08-20T03:55:09Z

Haiku² for nightmancyr
start with saturday grae's dad choked on a gay site sheesh ponder i
@

Created by Grahame

No, I'm not dead...

2007-08-13T02:47:27Z

When I've got more time I'll update about our most recent Asian holiday. Maybe.

I just wanted to blog now because I'm puzzled about people in general; specifically the ways in which people of the same age are on completely different mental levels. I won't claim to be the Authority on Maturity, but it sometimes concerns me that a couple of my friends, whom I consider to be fairly intelligent, come out with some of the oddest comments on occassion.

One friend in particular, who is only 4 months younger than I am, can hold a logical conversation about how some of the girls we went to school with still seem to be living in that era. Then, whilst talking about some other friends, she says "I thought you and Graeme decided not to be friends with those two anymore." Right...we're 6, obviously, and we told those people that we didn't want to play with them anymore. I attempted to explain to her that it isn't as simple as saying "I don't want to be your friend anymore" if the people in question aren't bad people, they're just less hygienic than us and have a fondness for selling, um, herbal remedies to supplement their little income.

Also, just because someone is married, doesn't mean that the love of their life isn't still out there. If you've loved someone for 20 years, it doesn't just vanish because you marry someone else. People can have "bad days", when memories are particularly tangible, before resuming some sense of normality. Having a friend (the same one as before) say "Oh my god, are you still in love with him?" after a nostalgic week, can make you feel a little incredulous that you confided in this person in the first place. Well, you know, I've had an On/Off switch installed in my heart, so luckily I cut the power before I caused myself any more hurt... Pfft!! This came from the person who spent weeks pining for some idiot who left her stranded in a foreign country, and she still loved him. Why then couldn't she understand my situation? Was it because I'm married to someone else and her strong Catholic faith somehow thought I had no right to have those feelings?? Does she think I enjoy unrequited love?

Who knows. I'm not going to ask her.

Anyway, rant over. I'm off to bang my head against a wall. LOL.

bits and pieces

2007-06-08T15:46:01Z

Thanks for the b'day messages, guys :o)

I was planning a party...then a couple of people voiced concerns that it was probably unecessary, etc...so I canned the idea. :o/ I did family dinners instead. Maybe next year I'll do my retro-themed nerd gathering instead. *ponder*

Had a crap-feeling day today - a friend of mine, an ex-colleague from 2 jobs ago, lost her son in a bike accident last weekend. He would have been 10 or 11. I only met him a couple of times, so I'm not shattered, but I'm very sad for my friend because he was all she had. The world sucks sometimes.

random stuff

2007-05-25T15:32:00Z

So anyway, we separated for a while. Skirted around each other for a couple of days. Decided it was worth having another go. So far so good. We're getting along. He's still pissed at me for returning from Melbourne and then "walking out." I'm still pissed at him for being totally fucking untidy and totally married to his job. He's now looking to fix his hours or change his job, and i'm...don't know what I'm meant to be working on. Giving him even more time, I think. Anyways, the ring went back on the finger and he's being pretty good at the moment,so we shall see how that goes.

How's everyone else going? ...fuck, I'll be 25 in a couple weeks. Not that I care, really - it's just bizarre that it feels like last week I was still getting into trouble with Jarrad in year 7, wishing I was an adult. Wierd.

Update

2007-04-11T01:20:25Z

It doesn't seem right to post this while everyone is so happy, but I'm just going to hope everyone is still on a Swancon high and then I won't feel so bad.

G and I are having a trial separation.

There, I've said it.

p.s. Ju, K - I'm delighted for you guys. *hugs*

Amazement

2007-04-03T13:42:34Z

What kind of half-wit gets a gaydarGIRLS profile...calls it "Bigperthcock" and then says they're looking for "sexy little pussy" ?? The "I am a" section says "Single Bi Female" but of course, being gaydargirls, when you sign up it doesn't give you the straight male option!! Besides, the "About" section reads "Tall, tanned,well hung,cute." Pfft, what?

You'd want to hope it's a prank, because if he was serious, how many replies does he think he's going to get on a gay site??

Sheesh.

ponder

2007-04-03T12:37:08Z

I have a crush on Missy Higgins.

Interesting...

random update

2007-03-29T13:43:50Z

First things first, congrats to Sarah and John! Nice work, guys.

I've been at Konekt for over a month now. I LOVE it. The people are nice. The work is more challenging, but there's not as much of it...and the consultants don't treat me like "the idiot admin asistant." Instead, I'm the Business Support Officer, and they're all quite capable of answering a phone or doing their own photcopying. It's brilliant. lol.

I've also heard my previous place of employment is going down the toilet. Well, I'm sure I speak for all of us who've left there when I say "HA HA! F*ck you!!!" ...*sigh* That was immature, but seriously, if you worked in that place, you'd be immature and resentful too. lol

I'm off to Melbourne over easter; going to visit my oldest friend. (mynxii , I mean Jarrad. :) ) I haven't seen him in over a year so it will be so good to catch up. I miss him like I'd miss my brother, if he went away.

And, um, that's it, I think.

new crush lol

2007-02-12T11:42:26Z

Anyone heard of Regine Velasquez, "Asia's Songbird"? I've jut discovered her. I think I might kidnap her and marry her! LOL

amusement

2007-02-09T12:36:18Z

funny end to a funny fortnight

2007-02-08T15:39:08Z

Well, I got the job I wanted - I start at Konekt on Monday! I went lawn bowling with my new colleagues this arvo and had a jolly good time. WorkFocus can kiss my donkey.

And in other news, to all you SBCGGers, I found an old, old friend who wants to join us next time! *grin*

Stay tuned! Who's organising the next GG gathering??

humble apologies

2007-02-06T14:02:07Z

to dr_jekyl for not reading your comment/query on time. I'm free mot of the time. This week is patchy - my friend Lisa (you met her at my place) is going back to Canada on Saturday - for good - so I'm cramming in events with her and her kids this week, going places with them. A couple of us are doing that. We thought we all had until October til she left permanently *sobs*

So, after this Saturday, I'll probably have more time :o)

some light on the horizon...

2007-02-01T14:09:45Z

I've had a second-round interview for one job I applied for, and I have a follow up interview also for another I applied for. So far, both places seem keen on me.

Neat, hey? *grin* I can't be as stupid as I thought I was!!!! lol!!

I lost my job :o(

2007-01-30T07:03:53Z

You all know I'm incapable of getting to the point quickly, but I'll do my best.

Wednesday arvo, the admin team were told that we'd receive emailed meeting requests to talk about company restructuring, and not to be concerned. They came through with the subject line "your employment."

Thursday arvo, I go to my meeting, and they say: "Due to company restructuring, your role is no longer available." I tell them that I am in fact able to work the 2 week notice period, and the HR manager insists several times that "most people take the time off to look for a new job." I take the hint and say "Fine. I'll take the time off instead."

Long story short, they've said my position is redundant, but they're rehiring for it, therefore it isn't redundant...the company has over 100 employees...and they can't claim that they believed I was coming in to work, because I have 2 witnesses who saw me give my key back & clear out my desk, plus they organised for someone else to come in early to open up Monday morning. Therefore, they were NOT expecting me, like the termination letter says.

My friend, who used to work in the HR department of the company til recently, believes it is 100% unfair dismissal and that I should take them to the Tribunal. (sp?)

Even if I get nothing from them, which I probably won't, considering they're sneaky bastards and they ALWAYS lawyer up when someone they don't like leaves (guilty conscience, anyone?), they need to know they can't keep treating people like crap and using loopholes to continue their appalling behaviour.

I've been through upset and angry, now I just want a new job and I want to see that company go down. It may not be me who causes their downfall, but they have to trip up sooner or later, right? I'll be watching to see them implode.

Finally,

2007-01-12T12:22:06Z

There was a cop on Orrong Road tonight right as some fricking idiot in a V8 ute played dodge/chicken amongst the traffic and set off towards the hills, doing about 100 in the 70 zone.

I laughed for about 10 straight minutes!

in a fog

2007-01-09T06:28:43Z

The next person who says to me: "Is that all? Stop worrying. Just relax and it will happen" is going to get either a fork in the eyeball; a $13.50(SG)pair of Mustafa shoes jammed up their anal cavity; or a nice new hat in the form of a white goods item - preferably a fridge.

Just because our family planning hasn't been in process for as long as other peoples', doesn't mean I'm not in a state of disheartenment every month when nothing happens!

Are people trying to help, or are they just insensitive?

Amusement

2007-01-03T04:53:44Z

I was looking around cafepress.com for Phantom related things, and found someone's t-shirt design. It's a hand drawn picture of the Phantom, holding the music box, with the text "I Heart My Monkey."

I thought fellow PoTO lovers may have a snicker at this also.

Bored.

2006-12-28T23:57:49Z

This is bad. I don't get bored. I never have. I've always had a very active imagination. Always used to get me into trouble at school because I was never concentrating on the maths/science...I was generally waiting for the creative writing lesson, or the reading lesson, or the trip to the history village, etc...

Anywho, I'm one of the 6 or so people who are working in our office this week. Everyone else took leave because the office is 'shut.' All of our offices are. Sydney, Newcastle, Orange, Melbourne, Canberra and Bunbury have all diverted their phones to us. Even so, we had 8 calls Wednesday, 13 yesterday (most of them were someone trying to send a fax)and today we've had 1 so far.

I don't mind saving my leave up, but damn it's monotonous in here!!!!

My Xmas Stocking

2006-12-20T23:22:13Z

Xmas Stocking

leave a gift for Nightmancyr

get your stocking

What Kind of Geek are You?
Name
DOB
Favourite Color
Your IQ is	frighteningly high
You are a	computer geek
Your strength is	you never need to sleep
Your weakness is	caffine
You think normal people are	strange
Normal people think that you are	disturbed

This Quiz by owlsamantha - Taken 278956 Times. </a>