Back to the Grind

10/28/2012

Today I brought Anita to the meeting. On the way I got a call from Jeff offering me a new job - this one is five hours a day and will result in an extra $700/week, a total of $1800 a fortnight when you add in my current wages! This should pay off my credit line, give me a good buffer on my student loan payments and provide me with all the funds I need to travel around NZ for the next year assuming I find a way to cover room and board. Happy days!

10/29/2012

Today I trained 4-8 so I could take on my new contract cleaning the whole store. Back home I slept till noon then ended up teaching Anita how to ride a bike. I noticed my tyre was flat on my bike so I had to ride down to Browns Plains and replace the tube. I came back briefly to eat but then had to return back to Browns Plains for work...

10/30/2012

Today I left for work at 3a again; on the way I saw wallabies skipping around by the freeway.

10/31/2012

After my night shift today I was on my way back when I started hearing sounds of something smacking into the pavement. I didn't realize at first and when I heard the bushes move I figured it was something in there. Then I heard some laughing and saw the projectiles coming from across the road. I figured it was just some kids but I wasn't sure what they were doing so curiosity got the best of me and I headed over. Sure enough it was a group of about four adults and a kid all hucking eggs out at passersby. They explained that they were throwing them as a Halloween prank. I figured they seemed pretty harmless and was about to leave when their leader told me I had five seconds. Of course, I assumed they would start chucking the eggs as soon as I turned to leave so I told the guy, "you throw that at me and I'm coming after you."

I figured that comment would either buy me more time to leave or get them to give up altogether... I was a bit groggy from work and didn't realize how aggressive that came across... They chucked a few eggs at me and as one hit I realized they were trying to inflict some pain so, after they ran out of ammo, I walked down the hill to have a go at them (verbally). The others dove into the car (to reload) and I was about to tell this guy off when he started shaking and moving into a fighting stance - this drunken idiot wanted to fight. Judging by his body language he was about to come at me so I told him to relax and left.

As I was leaving they began the assault again but kept missing so I got away with just a little egg on me. After I had made some ground I noticed my arm was bleeding so I decided to stop and report them for being excessively violent. On the phone it took a while but they eventually transferred me to the police who were more concerned with what I was doing out on my push bike then what had actually happened. I told the officer on the phone that the main guy had red hair, seemingly an Irish background, to which the he said, "oh right, he has red hair so he must be Irish?"

I said, "well, he does look Irish."

He kept a sarcastic tone in response and asked a couple of times if I wanted to press charges. I explained again that my arm was bleeding but I just wanted these guys dealt with before they hurt someone - they were throwing eggs into traffic and the aggro guy was clearly looking for a fight.

11/02/2012

Today was a miserable day. I was exhausted, more of my cleaning supplies were missing, the scrubber vacuum wasn't working and I received complaints for missing a spot - there was even talk about having me go all the way back down just to spot mop for about five minutes. Note: they have heaps of staff...

11/03/2012

Today I filled out my election ballot then checked online for the hours of the post office. Most branches were closed for the weekend but a couple were open till noon. It was about 11:20a so I rushed out and arrived just in time to post my ballot.