Today I got up at 7a and went to work with Ben. At 9a Chipper got us passes and showed us to our games. There we began to summon customers to pay $10 and throw a ball in a bucket. I went out, got their attention and offered them a free throw to lure them in. I did this all day and by 3p I was the last to get my break. At this point I was dehydrated and hungry but only had $3 for a water. After getting a bottle of water (since they don't take cards and they dont have water fountains) I went back to the games and worked until 6p. Then we packed up and talked to Chipper about getting my housemate Jenny a job at the EKKA. I mentioned how motivated she was to work at the EKKA so he gave me an extra pass for her.
08/10/2012
Today was a bit tougher than yesterday. We made more money but we had to work 13 hours... Ben and Jenny quit when we got back and I wish I could but then I won't get paid and tomorrow might actually be worth the trouble anyways since that's when people start to show up. The first day I brought in $150 and today $800 so my hopes are to bring in around $2000 each day this weekend since the crowd should more than triple in size. Since we got off so late today at 10p we didn't get home until about midnight which means I don't get to sleep until 1a and will only get about 6 hours sleep. Oh well, here goes...
08/11/2012
Today I went in on my own, trained my friend Victor from the meetings whom I convinced Chipper to hire, brought in about $1500 and went home at 10:30p. It was the longest day yet but I made some money.
08/12/2012
Today I was pretty much going out of my mind but Chipper let me go early. At home I got to sleep as soon as I could.
08/13/2012
Today I didn't have to start work until noon so I took care of some things and caught a ride with Vicke and his friend to the station. During my break I went on a ride that Chipper owns called Rock Star and got off at about 10p. At 11p I arrived home, made lunch for tomorrow, ate and went to sleep.
08/14/2012
Today I started regaining my voice from basically losing it the other day. I also got the police who patrol the area to play my rigged game. Carnies are so dodgy... not one that I've met has a history without drugs, violence or some kind of crime leading to probation. One of the guys actually goes by the name "probie" as in "probation."
08/16/2012
Stranded by Translink this morning: I waited all morning for a bus then tried to make up for lost time by following a faster route from the translink website but that bus doesn't run as late as the site suggested so I had to catch a different bus 45 minutes later. I had to transfer from that one to yet another one for the remainder of the trip. At work I went on skywalker ride, worked in the good booth down the street where they get all the customers, had rolling breaks throughout the day and filmed the Guy Fawkes Firework display.
08/17/2012
Today I had another mishap with Aussie public transport - my bus didn't come and a train going the wrong way came when mine was supposed to... I was really late.
Notice anything about the departure times vs the actual time on the top left?
It was real slow when I got to work and about halfway through Chipper wasn't very happy with my performance so he had me walk out and put the ball in people's hands rather than calling them over from the side. For the rest of the day I picked up more business. During the day we had a run-in with some "lads" or "stripeys". Lads are these teenager punks that steal stuff and go around trying to resell it. Apparently one of our guys got something from them but didn't pay so they kept coming back to mess with him so Chipper snapped and threatened them until they left. It seems they want to rob the guy I work with when he leaves the showgrounds.
08/18/2012
Today I finally finished work at the EKKA. After arriving late again (this time because I missed the bus because I was running late) I worked a few hours then took my first break during which I had a footlong dagwood dog (corndog) and had some free samples at the Woolworths Pavilion. Back at work tensions were high as probie faught with Chipper and Mike faught with the guy who keeps causing problems with everyone. Probie had taken one too many smoke breaks so Chipper had a go at him and docked him $50 pay. Chipper even threatened to make it so Probie never worked another show again. Mike almost knocked out the one guy because since he just wouldn't stop mouthing off and causing problems. I got a bit of a talking to by Chipper after I got caught leaning for a few seconds - I think he watches us and just waits for a reason to come over and reprimand our performance... After the last break we all pushed through the last few hours then began packing up. Victor and I had to catch our train so we left at 10:15 while the others stayed until four in the morning.
I walked over to Karawatha Forest where I found an entry and started exploring.
At first I was careful but soon I realized that the only thing living in the vicinity was a turkey so I went through a swamp and found a park.
Following a back road I eventually found an open area with a creek.
I followed the creek under an overpass and into the actual forest.
There I saw a kangaroo and, after wandering along an animal path and back, I followed the road up a ways where I saw a snake slither off. Finally, I found a road leading into the heart of the forest but it was getting dark so I wandered back the way I came. On the way back I looked up into the night sky and saw bats flying overhead, big ones.
08/07/2012
Today Jenny loaned me her bike pump so I could see if the bike in the backyard was any good. Sure enough the bike tyres pumped up and the chain slid right on. I immediately rode off toward the forest for another adventure. The first thing I came across was an orange grove that had recently been planted.
Further along I found that the road from yesterday actually leads into and throughout the whole forest.
During my ride I saw another kangaroo in the tall grass and eventually even stumbled upon a lake.
I continued wandering off the main paths and found a rock outcropping overlooking the whole forest.
It was there that I saw smoke going over the city/forest and it seemed to be spreading fast.
It was also getting dark so I started working my way back to the house. This time I followed one of the paths south into a reserve and onto the main roads.
Today Ben and I got some things and went to the showgrounds to talk to Chipper about the job. Job secured with an assured $100 + 15% commission we headed back to the house.
07/30/2012
This morning we realized we were living with a Korean Nazi named Min. I overheard a couple housemates talking about a new password (the internet hasn't been working since day two) so I went to get it from them. Housemates Jenny and Vick were sitting on the couch and talking about the new password, "great Min." Apparently, as well as being a complete male chauvinist, Min does whatever he wants no matter how it effects everyone else. First off, he thinks Jenny, being a woman, shouldn't be allowed live here - the first thing he said to her when she moved in was that she wouldn't be permitted to stay...
Last night Jenny was trying to reset the wireless router so she could continue her job search and Min came out yelling at her to stop.. he neglected to mention that her internet troubles were a direct result of him changing the password. On top of that it seems that Min's goal was to prevent newcomers, Ben and myself, from accessing the internet... what a piece of work.
07/31/2012
Today we got a quote to fix the car for $1900 - the best deal by far. I found a guy on gumtree named Ash who does show quality paint jobs from home and he offered to do the job for nearly half the rate of any other smash repair shop.
After Ben and I cooked up some burgers I headed out to the city to meet up with some locals from the Church in Brisbane who I saw the last time I was here.
08/05/2012
Over the last few days I've paid $950 for Ash to start the repairs on Ben's car and met some new friends at the meeting hall here in Brisbane.
Today Ben picked me up at 10a and we began our two day road trip to Brisbane.
We drove up through Gawler and stopped in a small town for chips with chicken salt and a "mongrel" hotdog.
Then we went East through Broken Hill where we stopped for some Maccas.
As we delved further into the bush animals began to show up. First Emus in the distance, then one ran across the road and later a fox did too. After a while it got dark so I took over driving for a bit... unfortunately it didn't last since we hit a goat... at 100kph. At first I just saw a line of baby goats walking out single file into the road so I swerved a bit only to slam into the adult which was following behind. The goat unexpectedly seemed to float as it flew upward in an aerobatic defiance of gravity and landed behind the car. The car was not in the best of shape after this - the front was smashed in a bit, the bonnet was scrunched up, the door wouldn't open and the right headlight was out. On top of everything it seemed we had a leak as well.
We called the emergency line for the police and waited. Eventually a guy came along, checked our situation then recommended a rest stop up the road in case nobody came. Another guy came soon after and gave us some drinks. This guy was in the military and heading up for a training. He told us how a gun Australia is heavily monitored, especially in the military - one gun is only allowed to be transported if guarded by a group. He also told us about his own experience with the suicidal wildlife in the area - a goat actually ran up next to his car and tried to run in front of him. Finally the police showed up and told us that the tow guy was out on the drink so we would probably be best camping out till morning.
07/27/2012
Today the tow guy came at 3a and noted that the only leak was from the windscreen wiper fluid so he put on our spare and signed us off with the REA since Ben had the coverage. We then drove down the road 1km and slept at the rest stop. Later in the morning I slept out on a stone bench for a while but it was too cold so I went back in the car. Soon we were ready to leave so we started driving.. slowly - the dips in the road caused scraping on the front right wheel since the wheel well was shifted back. It would have taken hours to get to the next town but, fortunately, a guy named Heath came along with a trailer and loaded us up.
He gave us a couple drinks and brought us all the way to a town called Cobar where we loosened up the wheel well and went on our way.
Several hours and hundreds of kilometers later we stopped in a small town where we found accommodation at Hotel Tourist in Narrabri at $50 for the both of us - cheaper than many hostels!
07/28/2012
Today we arrived in Brissy and moved into a share-house where we paid our bond ($380), two weeks rent ($190), and cleaning deposit ($10).
Next we got some fish n chips and had a couple drinks then caught a bus into the city. While on the bus we met a guy named Booboo (nickname) and he showed us to a place called "The Victory." It was there that we had a couple more drinks and made some money. The place had a $3000 balloon drop with everyone scrambling to pop balloons with $5 and $10 notes in them.
I noticed all the money falling to the floor so I got down and started collecting cash while everyone else popped the balloons. Soon it was over and I counted out a good $65 free money. A guy named Jack that we met had gone straight to the floor from the very start and found $95! After a while we went to a place called Pie Face on Queen Street Mall and Albert. Finally Ben and I decided to catch a taxi home so we waited on a bench by the road as a couple sneaked up five meters ahead of us and snatched the first taxi. When we finally did get a taxi Ben tried to haggle but I was in the front and didn't play it right - apparently you can bribe them to turn the meter off and they'll run red lights and speed to get you home for less!
Today, while having a beer out on the balcony with Ralph, I talked to Manuel again and he told me about his desire to move to France. The problem is that being from Colombia makes it difficult to move anywhere. Manuel's situation reminds me of a guy in Spain visiting his girlfriend. Apparently he got deported just because he was Colombian. Since he didn't want to risk losing his passport he carried a copy around and one day the police asked to see it. They said the copy wasn't good enough so the guy went back to his room and got it but by then the police had already started the deportation process... turning his relationship into a very-long-distance one.
07/12/2012
Today Ralph and I got haircuts and went to Rugby practice then went to join the others at the pub where I met a bloke named Mason. Mason had worked for Simply Energy and just quit today because he couldn't make any sales with the new 29 cent rates. Apparently all of the sales companies are firing people now that the rates have gone up.
07/13/2012
Today I finally replaced the tyre on my bicycle - great timing considering that I'm leaving in 10 days... Later I celebrated a birthday with a few guys from Ralph's work and spoke with a girl from Darwin who told me about Crocs and some odd events with strange fog killing car engines and mysterious campfires that disappear when you get closer.
07/14/2012
Today the English bloke Chris was kicked out of the hostel for yelling at Brian - he had been here for seven years... now he's not allowed back because he didn't want to leave his name with Brian to borrow a DVD. After my security shift Zara offered me a place to stay in Brissy with her Kiwi cousins and later Iano, Zara, Eline and I went out for a bit.
07/20/2012
The last few days I've been preparing for the trip to Brissy. Ben and I have a placed lined up for $125/week and will be meeting the guy on Friday before he leaves for Papua New Ginea.
Today I woke up at 5p and, after brekky, I went for an hour or so bike ride through the Adelaide Parklands.
On the way back I ran into James who was on his way to a social event but forgot to bring his bowtie so I asked the hostel but they didn't have one - worth a shot. After a shower I had a few going-away drinks with Ralph and his coworker Josh. When I told Josh about my job search in Brissy he got on the phone and called up a contact to get me and Ben jobs working the showgrounds there. Later, I met a guy from Austria who cave dives and just camped in the Nullabor for a couple weeks.
07/21/2012
Today I went to meet David, Zsusha and the nephews for brekky at Paparazzi. David gave me my group certificate (Australian version of a W-2) and we talked about current events and plans for Brissy. After brekky we went to the Mitcham Reserve to hang out a bit more then I went back to the hostel and called to confirm the new job in Brissy. Later I did my last shift of security for the bar... during my seven hour shift I threw one guy out twice and had to ask a elementary school teacher to leave because apparently he was getting a bit too intoxicated and bothering people.
07/22/2012
Today I rode to the meeting and afterward we all went to ETC (East Terrace Continental) for lunch where I got a tasty steak burger. Next, I rode to James' to do some weeding and back at the hostel I did some more work then walked into my room, fell down on my bed and passed out.
07/25/2012
The last couple days I finished preparing to leave for Brissy and today I managed to get up in the morning for the first time in a few days. Amit explained some things about taxes - apparently, as a first time filer in Australia, I have to do it on paper. I called the tax office and they gave me a place where I can get free assistance in Brisbane - turns out Australia has one of the most complicated tax systems in the world. I spent the rest of the day looking at apartments because the other guy found some friends to rent to and bailed on me and Ben. I found three places where I confirmed an inspection time for this weekend. Later I went to dinner at the meeting hall and sold my bike to Lam then packed my bags and got ready for bed.
Last night I had a couple drinks at PJ O'Briens with Michael and the others to celebrate his moving on to Darwin then I did night watch and made eggs and blueberry pancakes at the hostel. Today I did security for the bar again and some police showed up and searched room one for about an hour. After a bit a detective showed and they hauled away an Asian guy who apparently stole an ipod and ipad from another hostel. After my shift some guy smashed a mirror in the hallway and yanked a bunch of stuff off the wall. Iano chased him out and said, "I'll remember your face."
07/01/2012
After the meeting today I went with Pillar and his family for lunch and later we had tea at Clarence's. Back at the hostel I arrived as a group of just over 100 gays finished checking in for a convention here in Adelaide... kill me now.
07/04/2012
Today Jessica came and got me from my room. I had been in hiding for the last few days from the awkward conversations, annoying hallway gatherings, and overall invasion of my habitat... but she seemed convinced that it would be worth my while to come down. Too right, the English girls were throwing a fourth of July party! Little did they know the fourth of July "Independence Day" is America's day celebrating independence from the British. They thought we were celebrating civil rights or something but rather they were celebrating their own defeat by us rebel Americans! Jessie and Beck had bought snags, candy, party poppers & sparklers (the only legal "fireworks" in Oz) and an American movie as well as red, white and blue streamers - they weren't about to let this little historical mix up ruin their freedom party. After the barbie I went to the meeting hall for the dinner meeting and on the way back I learned that the graffiti on the buildings in Adelaide is actually legal - every couple of months they repaint so that other artists can have a clean canvas.
07/07/2012
Last night I went for the second part of the sleep study with a different group. When I arrived I met Kade and Tomo. Today we had brekky and took our usual tests during which I got a reaction speed of 146 milliseconds. After showering we did urine samples, weighed in and started the cycling. After the study ended this time they fed us BBQ chicken and Greek salad. After eating I headed back to the hostel for my security shift at the bar where I ended up having to kick a freakish tall guy out of the bar for harassing some girls.
07/09/2012
Today I made snags for Ralph and myself. While we were eating I met a German bloke named Oliver. Oliver is a chef hitchhiking his way to Perth from Sydney. He just finished a year in New Zealand and shared some great insights for my upcoming visit. Apparently, while the minimum wage is slightly lower ($13/hour), New Zealand is also a bit cheaper, so it works out. After further discussion on where to go and what to do in NZ I got Oliver's Facebook and went for groceries with Ralph. Back at the hostel I had some goon that Ralph and I bought and watched the movie "Australia". While Ralph was working I came down and spoke with Oliver some more. He told me about the corrupt police in Eastern Europe and how they take everything from your wallet while checking your ID. He suggested a simple solution - don't carry too much or too little, 5-10 euro is sufficient to keep everyone happy. Another interesting cultural observation - while Germany does have high standards for their goods, it seems they've become a bit lax and joined America in outsourcing - things "made in Germany" are now made in other countries by German standards. After Ralph finished cleaning we joined Dave and others for drinks out on the balcony.
07/10/2012
Today life at the Blue Galah returned to normal - no more blocked hallways, no more loud drinking until 4a, no more gross conversations in the lounge and definitely no more creepy bathroom advances.
Today I woke up late and went to apply for the cleaning job at the mines that one of my clients had referred me to. The job agent I spoke to was very keen but not particularly impressed with my visa restrictions. Back at the hostel I was running out of time to drink the 2.4 liters of liquid required for the sleep study so I chugged a liter of water and rushed over to the Appleton Institute. There I met up with my fellow lab rats Jordan, Sonya and Elliot - two locals and a Canadian. Stas explained the procedures, gave us a ten minute reflex test (the first of many), a questionnaire about our alertness & mood (also the first of many) and took us on a tour of the facility. After a while they wired us up for bed with electrodes and a head band device that monitors sleep in place of the electrodes (for comparison purposes).
The head band ended up being too tight and, while my attendant attempted to loosen it, it ended up being the first of many issues throughout the night. Right off the start they literally counted down as if to say "ready, set, sleep!" which didn't help. Then, after about 15 minutes sleeping, I woke back up to a severe pressure in my head only to realize that the headband was slowly working its way into my forehead. I figured I could still get to sleep in a reasonable amount of time but, sure enough, after about half an hour or so my bladder decided to keep me up for another hour. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, my stomach began to growl. According to the sleep monitor at my bedside I didn't fall asleep till 2a - a full four hours after lights out... not the best performance considering my only job was to sleep.
06/28/2012
This morning they woke us up at 7:30a to eat brekky which consisted of two weat bix, toast and half an apple - all precisely measured out and recorded as such. After a bit more reflex testing and another questionnaire on our alertness & mood we showered and suited up for the bicycles. Our uniforms consisted of standard mining apparel - long sleeve high vis shirts, sweat pants and a helmet. This so that the study would be as authentic as possible for the purpose it was designed (to test the effect of electrolytes on miner re-hydration). Along with the attire we also had to do our "labour" in a 35*C (100*F) room. After a urine sample (the first of many) we began our 2.5 hour indoor bicycle ride. When we finished we did some reading (1001 Natural Wonders to See Before You Die) in between the testing (reflex, mood, urine) and finally at 6:30p we were finished with day one of two. We then proceeded to enjoy a barbie that Greg, one of the project leaders, had set up for our group - snags, Greek salad and lamb chops!
Yesterday I looked for work all day and today I watched movies with Stephen. We had some doughnuts from shopping earlier and at about 2a we made steaks, eggs and bacon.
06/22/2012
From yesterday on I continued my job search and today I applied for a sleep study. Later the Balcony Bar provided snags (hot dogs) so I ate and had a couple half price drinks ($5). At one point Stephen offered me another drink for doing the dishes and, as the night went on, the Irish lads began to sing and dance. During this time Dave clarified some of the finer points of getting a labouring job. Apparently it doesn't matter what you know as much as what you say. In the right light any experience can be used to make it look like you know what you're doing - you learn everything you need to while on the job anyways. The only thing that really matters is work ethic, everything else is re-explained whether you know it already or not.
06/23/2012
Today I went to Murray Bridge with the church to do some door-knocking... I wasn't particularly thrilled to continue doing the very thing that had been crushing my soul for the last three months but at least I wouldn't be alone this time. I had hoped that my experience at least would come in handy but unfortunately my group just couldn't find any interested in what we had to say.
Back at the hostel I began my new job as a bouncer for the bar once a week. Throughout my first night we had people trying to piss in the showers and an Irish guy who got progressively more aggressive. First he got in an argument with an odd blond guy who I later realized was secretly talking trash. Later on I found another Irish lad hunched over in the toilet and had to climb over the stall to get him out. Over time a POME bloke started to annoy me but was just "taking the piss" and getting a laugh out of hearing my yank accent. He clearly wasn't trying to cause problems but that didn't make it any less irritating. Eventually my shift came to an end and I started getting ready for bed when I heard some yelling down the hall. I rushed down to find the Irish guy standing over Dave on the floor. He had taken Dave's phone and made a call to the police. Dave got reacted and the guy slammed Dave's head on the floor yelling, "nobody threatens me."
06/25/2012
Today I discussed the sleep study with a post grad named Stas. Stas explained that I would be testing the effect of electrolytes on dehydration common with miners working in the warmer regions of Australia. Back at the hostel a crazy, self important Indian dude freaked out. Having lost his job as a mechanical engineer he wanted to work for accommodation but, upon being told that I would "teach" him what to do, he threw a fit. The ungrateful punk insulted Brian who responded in kind only to get a "do you know who I am?"
Brian wasn't about to put up with any of this and eventually had to kick the crazed lunatic out of the hostel. It wasn't long before the creep came back and had an argument with a POME guy named Chris. Chris is a big guy and is not afraid to say what is on his mind. He quickly put the little weirdo in his place telling him he was "cooked" and stared him down until the spas finally stormed off. It would have appeared that the guy had finally given up but unfortunately this would not be the last time that he would pay us a visit.
Later on a bunch of the Irish lads and I started a movie called the Fourth Kind during which I got a call from William. William had me go up to the room so he could tell me about an Asian guy who had followed him in from the dumpster. He said that this guy proceeded to dig in our food cubbies and then went into room two - a girls dorm. I told the guys in the lounge about this and everyone became deeply concerned, the girls - a bit creep-ed out. It would seem the movie had reached a dramatic point wherein everyone found themselves wearily analyzing the situation for serious ramifications. Jessica had me check her room for her and Stephen checked the security footage to see if they had video of the guy sneaking in. After a while no evidence could be found to support William's claim and everyone just attributed the misunderstanding to the foreign youth's excessive sensitivity to his situation.
06/26/2012
Today Chris made dinner and Dave gave everyone Popsicles. During this time Amit came out with some more information on the mental state of the strange Indian dude. Apparently he came back today with $350 sunnies (sunglasses) that he had purchased earlier and, since he hadn't paid for accommodation the last couple days, Amit asked for his card. The card was declined even when Amit attempted $40... the fruit loop had spent his last $350 on sunnies. This guy walked into the office (off limits) to grab a beer and, when asked what he was doing there, just said to put it on his tab... The guy has no money but he did find a homeless shelter so Amit, out of sheer pity, offered him a ride. Amit asked Chris to come along as backup in case the nutcase went mental again.
Yesterday I arranged to go visit Robbie again and today I caught a bus to meet his mate, Gino. Gino is from Croatia and has been driving for as long as Robbie, about 26 years. After two hours we stopped at a truck stop where we met up with another truckie named Leslie, a huge 66 year old bloke who looks like he could take down a bear with his bare hands. Six hours later we arrived in Geelong and Robbie picked me up from near the truck depot.
06/15/2012
Today I bought some drinks for Robbies place and we went to the Westfield mall for Cheeky Chicken and later on we went for some tea and a few drinks with Paul, a bloke named John, and eventually we even ran into James again.
06/16/2012
Today I had some meat pies and grilled cheese with Robbie before launchin it for Becks.
Beck made some curly fries and gave me a couple bottles of fancy wine that she got from the dregs of one of the delivery trucks. Next we walked around the mall a bit and stopped at the beach to watch some kite surfers.
06/17/2012
Today Robbie and I went to Queenscliff(e) again. The "e" has actually been dropped from the name but many local traditionalists still write it on their establishments with the "e" on the end. We revisited a few places from last time and checked out some new ones. We saw an old steam engine, fishing boats with huge bulbs for attracting squid at night and we stopped in at a couple piers. At Point Lonsdale we watched as a boat entered the channel - piloted by locals experienced enough to avoid the treacherous reefs. We also visited a cave where a famous fugitive lived for thirty years while avoiding the authorities way back in the way back days.
The cave was barred off but the bars were far enough apart that I was able to squeeze in and look around a bit. I also climbed over and through some cool rock formations. On the way back Robbie showed me a community where surfing fanatics live and some nearby farmland where he grew up. At Becks we had fish, chips, Chico Roll, Dim Sims, etc for tea and watched a couple movie. At Robbie's we also caught up with the elusive Cameron for the last evening of my visit.
06/18/2012
This morning Robbie picked me up and took me to the pickup point. After a few minutes Gino showed up and we left towards Melbourne. On the way Gino dropped me off at a BP where I slept until he was done with his pickup in Melbourne. I woke up and bought a pepper steak pie and four doughnuts as Gino arrived. We headed off and about six hours later we stopped for tea at the roadhouse from last time where I had, according to Gino, the least healthy combination available - fried fish, chips and a steak kebab. An hour or so later we finally arrived in Adelaide at 10p, Gino dropped me off and I took a bus into the city.
Today Stephen and I went to get our phones repaired. The store that sold us our phones, Crazy Johns, took our phones and gave me a loaner since I didn't have a spare. They charged me $50 deposit for a scratched up piece of junk from the late '90s... On the way back we went for brekky and I got some headphones at JB Hi Fi. Then we stopped over at a cafe for jam tarts and Belgian hot chocolate.
Later on I went to Coopers Alehouse to meet up with David for a drink. David told me of some hard times including the death of Zsusha's dad, Joseph. After a couple drinks we got some food and played a game of pool.
06/10/2012
Today I slept in for the first time in a while and had the same brekky as I have the last few months.
After a while the hostel staff including myself had a meeting upstairs and Brian gave us free drinks. I then helped Ivy with an English lesson, did a detail shift and talked travel with an Aussie bloke for a bit before starting night shift. During this time I noticed a particularly strange group of girls that had recently checked in. They play on Roller Derby - a game where you dress like it's Halloween and roller skate into each other.
06/12/2012
Yesterday I helped Tim move a couple sofas he bought for his new house then, back at the hostel, Stephen made pasta for everyone and we watched a movie in the lounge. Today Wayne put on a barbie and we all had a few snags.
I went to turn in my resignation this morning and found it was a lot harder than expected. Before I could speak with Matt, Brendan pulled me aside and had me sign a form to recognize my commitment to the company after three months by making me Senior Sales Rep. Brendan explained that I would be receiving intermittent manager responsibilities as well as increased responsibility overall. After signing I went over to Matt to turn in my resignation. He asked what he could help me with and as I brought my letter into the light he pointed and said, "that worries me."
I hesitated and continued to explain that I was taking things in a new direction. Matt gave me a sad look and told me that he was devastated. He had me go get Brendan and as I explained my plans they got very distressed. I told them it was nothing personal and they seemed to relax a bit. We discussed me sticking around for quarterly cup to drive since this would make things less difficult for the company. Matt went on to explain how he had plans for me moving forward in the company but that he understood and would be a great reference for me in the future... It wasn't easy but I just couldn't continue working myself 57 hours a week during what's supposed to be a holiday!
On turf I had a guy who complained about my pitch saying that he hadn't complained and asked how we receive these complaints. I told him we don't receive the complaints, there is just general complaining about rising rates... so he asked to see proof. I showed him the recent article on rising rates causing "electric shock" and he argued that I could have typed it up myself. He then continued to complain that I hadn't stated his right to tell me to leave and that I was in violation of door knocking code. I told him of course I have to leave if you ask, that's a given. He continued to ask if I had a code of conduct on me and if I had read it. He went on looking for anything he could get me on so I finally just told him that I'm not a lawyer but I'm definitely not in breach of any laws. I gave him an EAL brochure, pointed out the ombudsman's number for legal advice and left. I told Matt about this and he told corporate to keep an eye out for the wanker in case he actually called to complain.
I ended on two sales today. The first one was to an Indian lady who worked for Woolies in the financial department as an accountant. She advised me to get someone on the inside to refer me if I want a job there. She also told me about other interesting options including taxi driving for $1400/week. She had just moved in so she didn't have a bill. She also lived in an apartment complex and didn't have access to the meter either so I used a trick from yesterday and had the vero rep do a property search with MSTATS.
My second sale was later on but very interesting. I spoke to a guy who worked for ETSA and he didn't seem to mind the conversation so I covered everything. His daughter happened to be listening and got really excited about everything I was telling him so, while he didn't want to get his bill for me, she eventually went and found it while we were talking. After I outlined his savings she was outraged that he still wouldn't go for it so she drove home, got her bill, and came back with it so I could sign her up. It was raining during all of this so I didn't mind waiting in their warm house doing prefills while I waited for her to return.
After work we all went out for drinks and bid Arika farewell then I headed back to the hostel for work... more bleaching.
05/25/2012
Today I continued training the guy from yesterday and a bit later, after I sent him off on his own, I went to an apartment complex with over 50 apartments. There I made a sale to a retired professional boxer. He showed me a newspaper clipping from his glory days and told me about his trainer who never touched a drop of alcohol in his life.
He even showed me pictures of his family and friends from way back in the way back days. The next door was almost a sale but the guy got cold and gave up halfway through the vero call. The next guy I spoke to was an Italian guy who was already with us but had a lot to talk about nonetheless. I also spoke to a lady who was using her pension to pay everything automatically since she couldn't get to the post office. She was quite proud of her little arrangement and continued to tell me about her family. At this point it was getting late but I figured I'd give a few more doors a try. Unfortunately the next guy, while interested in signing up, was Greek and couldn't really understand well enough to go through with it. Short on time, I headed back into the streets hoping to find quicker, more reliable sales but only managed to get drenched by the pouring rain. I pulled out my umbrella for the first bit but in the last half hour I dropped my umbrella in a bin since it was busted. It was about ten minutes before I was running back in the rain to get my umbrella back.
Back at the office we all got into the drinks and, as usual, the German girl Mona was first to break out dancing. In the meeting room I tried learning to shuffle with one of the new girls and a bit later I grabbed the Nerf gun but put it back after accidentally shooting Mona in the eye. Heading out of the office we piled into a van with Matt driving... only slightly intoxicated. Many were distressed as we barrelled into near death situations but knowing there's was nothing to be done I just buckled up, sat back and enjoyed the ride. Later we must have gained a reputation because one of the bars had received instructions not to let us in so Matt got into an argument with the bouncer - allowing me to slip passed undetected. After a while nobody else made it in so I decided to regroup with the others - only I was denied access to the bar they were at. Explaining that my friends were inside I tried walking passed one of the bouncers but they quickly grabbed me by the collar and threw me away from the bar. I gave them a look then texted Jon who came out, gave me some food and tried talking to the bouncers. He informed me that unfortunately they don't let you in after you try to sneak passed and then asked where his food was. I gave him $2 and apologized for eating the Maccas dollar menu burger - wasn't sure why he would hand me food if not to eat! I headed back for the hostel... or in the direction which I figured would bring me to the hostel. I ended up stopping at a quick stop and talking with an Aussie bloke who was buying a subway sandwich. It looked good so I bought the same sandwich then walked with him for a bit before he decided to hail me a cab for the city - turns out I had walked a fair distance in the wrong direction.
05/26/2012
Today Rugby was in Port Adelaide so I did some stuff and went to Luke's house. After the meeting we had some treats - wafers, chocolate and mango/apple juice. Finally we went back to the meeting hall and ate $2 whoppers that we bought using photocopied coupons.
05/27/2012
Today we had Chinese noodle soup for brekky. After the meeting some of us went for lunch in China town where we got big platters and shared then I worked for James and stopped at Hungry Jacks for a $2 whopper on the way back to the city. At Alma Tavern I met up with work mates, ate some chips (french fries)and talked with Lucy and Amber. At one point Matt got into an argument with some guys who took a couple chairs from our table and we began to leave. After pulling Matt away from the conflict we loaded my pushbike into the van and drove back to the city. Back at the hostel I made some homemade chips which turned out surprisingly well.
05/28/2012
Today started out nice - I made two sales by 1:30p and things were looking up. The first sale was to a guy who worked for Woolies and didn't really ask any questions, a bit unusual but nice. The next sale was to a Chinese international student who also pretty much just went along with everything. At first I figured it was probably because he didn't really understand and I was just waiting for him to hand back the phone shaking his head in confusion but he agreed to and acknowledged everything we were doing. After that Matt and Brendan got excited and I think jinxed my day because after that everything just went downhill. At around 3p I saw Joanne and she wasn't having any luck either.
05/29/2012
At about 3p today I made a sale to a couple girls who, at first, were indifferent and wanted nothing to do with it but I saw a bit of curiosity and played on that with the addition of some rapport building and got them to sign. Vero was down so I didn't have to subject them to that which is probably why they didn't back out. The next sale wasn't for a while but I found a nice lady who works at the mines as a cleaner for $35/hour two weeks on, one week off. She told me how she took eight years to find a way into her job and recommended a contact for me to get my foot in the door. At this point I was pretty happy - two sales and an awesome job prospect. During appointments I found a buyer but we got put on hold for a bit so by the time we got through and found that she had bad credit there was no time for me to go to another.
05/30/2012
Today Ben, Joanne and I made no sales. I actually found a couple people who wanted to sign but one had footy and the other, who owned lots of properties, just didn't have time...
05/31/2012
Today we did a road trip to Murray Bridge and I still made no sales. Murray Bridge is supposed to be gold turf and, while I did get 14 bills, I didn't close any of them successfully. One guy had an interesting situation - the street light meter was in his meter box and the previous owner had accidentally signed that meter up with us. This guy started getting credit bills from Lumo for the public street lights which just doesn't make any sense. Another guy was ready to sign but vero overemphasized the contract so much that he backed out. Another bloke wanted to do research, right then his friend showed up and vouched for Lumo saying he was happy with us and that another one of their friends was as well. I looked at him and gestured as to say "there's your research buddy!" He still wouldn't go for it.
As if my day wasn't rough enough I also found myself close to being eaten by rabid guard dogs on more than one occasion. One dog had a particularly terrifying growl/bark but was behind a fence. When I went back later the owners were there and as I spoke to them the dog came running. I figured the fence would do its thing again but this time as the dog jumped on the gate it began to open. The dog dropped down and I quickly drop kicked the gate shut before the dog could come after me.
Back at the van the managers weren't happy with me - one even gave me a jab by noting that she didn't think anyone had ever gotten a zero on this turf before. I still managed to relax and enjoy the ride back with a couple drinks and chatting with the others but Brendan was clearly not happy about this - he prefers people on low scores to be silent all the way back.. At the office we all headed over to the pub for a couple drinks and I played some pool with Brendan who was a bit more relaxed now that the day is over.
06/01/2012
Today we went to Gawler and the people were tense. One guy told me how he has gotten into the habit of hiding in his office and waiting for doorknockers to leave. Another lady told me she was under the impression that her bill wasn't high enough for the reduction. My first contact of the day was my only real prospect and she ran off to work before we could finish. The only other near sale was a 63 year old gamer who had changed 12 times and couldn't afford the cancellation fee that he would have to pay to switch to us. His current contract wasn't missing anything that I could see so there wasn't any way to get out of it. After work Brendan tried to get me to be silent for the whole hour and half drive back but people asked me things and it wasn't long before I totally gave up trying. On the way to the hostel I went through the park and saw two eyes staring at me from a tree. I used the flash on my phone camera but I just couldn't seem to get a good photo of it.
06/02/2012
Today while I was working for the hostel something unusual happened... a guy pissed in the kitchen bin. Some girls saw it and told me and, having just passed by an odd bloke in his boxers, I asked where the guy was and, of course, they pointed to the odd dude. I got his attention saying, "mate, you know there are toilets for that."
As I motioned towards the toilets he gently patted me on the arm and headed upstairs. I brought this up with the front desk and Amit told me to bring the guy back. I went up to him but he was as unresponsive as before so Amit came up and we escorted him back to his room. After I took the piss bag out to the bin, Amit gave me a free soft drink ask thanks. I then got ready for Rugby and ended up bringing Ralph with me. We had to stop at the free bike place (city bikes) to get him one so he could keep up but we still arrived in time to get in on a game. It was second grade (junior varsity) so I had to sit out after a bit because I still wasn't really clear on everything just yet. Ralph on the other hand, having played Rugby back in France, had himself a good run for about half the game. When the game ended we grabbed a drink at the club pub and watched first grade (varsity) for a bit.
06/03/2012
Today we had eggs, bacon, toast and some cereal for brekky and met at the hall. After the meeting I headed up to the CBD to meet with James for my sunglasses, payment for my work, and to help support the preservation of an ancient heritage site in WA called the Burrup.
06/04/2012
Today I got some new pants to replace the ones that were literally falling apart at the seems
After my team all arrived I drove us to Murray Bridge where it rained all day long. I managed one sale at about 2p to a Kiwi and another right after to a lady from Indonesia. I left my number with the Indonesian lady because she said she wanted to have me explain it to her husband. When her husband got home she started texting me about how angry he was and that I needed to cancel it for her. I explained that I don't have the authority to cancel her contract but that she can easily call and cancel. At my last appointment a couple who I had spoken to at the beginning of the day were keen and even gave me a glass of wine while I explained some things. It turns out they had already done some research including talking to an executive friend who was already happily with Lumo. They had then gone out driving around looking for me on the street so that I could sign them up. As I began the paperwork they asked if they could sign up another property as well! I called Brendan to make sure it was alright to sign up the other property without a meter number in hand and he gave me the go ahead. I then signed up both properties while talking to them about their upcoming trip to Europe. Near the end Brendan tried texting me but before I could read his messages my phone died. I went to meet up with him at the van but the van was gone. At first I tried asking a random lady if I could charge my phone at her place real quick but she was paranoid and thought I might have a gun. I pointed out the absurdity of this judgment and she told me to "keep walking". I explained that I had nowhere to walk to but then decided to just walk down the road a bit so she would leave me alone. I thought about it though and figured it best to just wait for Brendan to return. After a bit I saw some brights shining in my direction and I guessed that it was the van, but I was wrong - it was a police car. The officer stopped and told me to hop in so I caught a ride with him to the van. Apparently Brendan had called the police in a panic and this officer had been assigned the task of locating me. Back at the van Brendan was still visibly shaken but clearly a bit relieved as well.
06/05/2012
Today I sold to a Chinese girl named Tingting. Her whole family had moved to Australia and she was the only one who spoke enough English to apply with Lumo. Down the road I was desperate for a toilet so I slipped behind some bushes in someones front yard and, as I was finishing, they pulled up in their car. I quickly hopped the fence and ran down the road thinking, "great, this will be the second day in a row that I get picked up by the police."
Later on Vero was down again so I went to a lady who seemed a likely bad credit and signed her up. She had five children, an overdue bill and lots of cats. As I left the cats followed me until one ran under my foot to trip me and got stepped on.
06/06/2012
Today I noticed a sign "Stop Creeping."
It's an odd sign but I recently saw a commercial on unsafe driving depicting bad drivers as creepy. On turf today I trained another rep and with one lady I showed her how to have fun with people. The lady was complaining about America's apathetic attitude towards health care and, being that we had been talking about apathy towards electricity rates, I made the comparison thus revealing her hypocrisy. This got a good laugh after which the lady, finding herself at the butt of the joke, decided she'd had enough. I eventually made a sale later on to an Aboriginal painter who directed me to country schools for authentic aboriginal art.
06/07/2012
Today I made a sale at the first door in front of my trainee to a guy who operates cranes for ETSA.. that was the last sale I made for Lumo. Later on I found a little old lady named Agnes. Agnes was with Lumo but getting the SA Electricity 29 cent rates and overall high charges with no discount. I was about to explain our current promo when she got a call from a TRU Energy sales guy who was just confirming her concession details for the sale he had just made to her. Upon realizing I was there the rep asked to speak with me then asserted that he was sorting her out with a good deal and that I should just leave her be. I acknowledged that he was bettering her situation but decided to see what I could do for her. I had to call our retention department for her since she wasn't really all there. It took a while but we finally got through and, not knowing that he was on speaker phone, the rep began to quote our loyal Lumo customer on, not our standard 24 cent rates, but ridiculous rates just slightly lower than what she was currently paying. I began to point out our standard rates to the greedy blood sucker but then got a call from Brendan. I told Brendan about the situation and he just told me it wasn't my problem and to get the heck out of there. It was at that point that the retention rep wanted to speak with me and Brendan hung up. The rep congratulated me on a job well done and continued to bribe me with a reward that he said would be sent to my manager... of course he didn't know I was quiting the next day and regardless I wasn't about to let him get away with ripping off a little old lady. After hanging up I continued to explain our rates to Agnes, wrote a note for her son then called him and explained it to him. He pointed out that Agnes had been told not to change her retailer but I explained that she was a victim of crafty sales technique and that she was being taken advantage of by, not just the TRU guy, but her own retailer as well.
Apparently Murray Bridge has a bit of a reputation. As I continued walking down the street a guy in a black car yelled at me and I asked some random passersby about it, they simply replied, "it's Murray Bridge."
I walked up to a house after going through some really high gates and said, "quite a fortress you have here."
The lady that lived there responded angrily that she would call the cops if I didn't leave immediately. I left in a hurry and went down the road where I met a nice old guy who let me in to warm up a bit and told me about the area's history of drug related violence. It all makes sense now.
06/08/2012
Today Matt decided to do another training, this one mostly on body language. Many times he focused the examples on me but at no time did he mention it being my last day. After training we raced to get out first and I barely pushed ahead of the other van securing the win for my team. For lunch Ben and I had Avocado Chicken Schnitzel Burgers which were amazing then we headed off to Victor Harbour where my friend Deani lives and works. I called Deani and she offered to come pick me up for a quick coffee and to catch up. Then I got a call from Ben, saw him, and walked over. He was demotivated so we decided he would join me to go see Deani. We walked over to her work asked where she was to an attendant as Deani walked in. Deani made Ben and I a couple coffees then we decided to grab a couple drinks. We went outside since Deani was busy working and we watched the waves and dolphins jumping while talking about travel. Four hours later we went back in and talked to Deani for half an hour before heading back to work for the final half hour. At six I finished a second walk sheet then sat up on top of a hill with Ben looking out over the harbour. Next we went to van, complained about nobody being home and drove to Hungry Jacks where I bought everyone $2 whoppers using my photocopied vouchers from the meeting hall.
At the channel meeting this morning I redeemed my other balloon and won a case of beer. Out on turf I immediately ran into an old guy who I was increasingly weary of selling to. After finding out that he didn't have a phone number for vero I asked if anyone he knew had a number we could use - any relatives or friends to which he said, "they're all dead."
Things went from bad to worse. As I went along I got a bad credit then rounded the corner to see a girl coming up the hill screaming and swearing angrily. I just figured she was being dramatic but I quickly discovered that there was reason for this - someone had been stabbed. I later found that this is actually a common occurrence in this area. After another bad credit I continued along and got rejected for the rest of the day. People were either jaded by the FOUR other reps that had been there recently, "happy" with the one they had signed up with, or wanted to take the information that I was offering and look things up for themselves. After work I rode back to the hostel, ate some cake for a coworkers birthday, had a drink and then some pasta with steak that Danny prepared.
05/01/2012
Today I found out that we were back on the same turf as the last couple days. Right off I thought maybe it would be okay as I got a woman signing up and on vero. She passed the credit check but then decided she didn't want her name on the bill. I continued on in the pouring rain and dealt with the same rejections as yesterday. At one house I almost got eaten by a dog - he and his buddy were sitting on a porch, I waved to them to see if they were nice and they slowly lumbered over like any nice dog would. The big one came to the fence first and looked nice but, to be certain of this, I put my hand through to give him a pat on the head... that's when he turned evil. The dog immediately bared his teeth and lunged for my hand, fortunately I was quick to pull out as the now ravenous, blood thirsty creature went mental on the gate between us. Not the best experience I've ever had with a dog. A while after that I walked past a bus stop and a girl asked me what I was up to. I told her, "just here signing people up with cheaper retailers."
She asked if I would stop by and sign her up and, of course, I agreed. Later on, after finally making a sale to a nice couple down in a court, I met some refuges from Iran. They had been prosecuted back home and had left to try life in Australia. They were keen to save money but, as I discovered, they didn't actually pay their electricity - Red Cross did. Next I went to meet the girl from the bus stop but she wasn't home. The rest of the day was a bust and she never did return.
Back at the hostel I did a detail shift, made dinner then had a drink out on the balcony with Ralph and his coworkers. Having seen a job posting earlier I had a good discussion about the pros and cons of our jobs in sales. On one hand, I meet interesting people, gain experience and the days generally go by pretty quickly. On the other hand, a normal job would mean better pay, more free time after work, and much less stress. The thing is that the new job would be boring and have absolutely no possibility of progression while my current job provides opportunity for advancement and is generally pretty interesting if not overly so. Maybe I'll look into the other job and see how things go in the next week or two doing sales.
05/02/2012
Today I had another slow day. I had no sales as most people were already jaded from eight other door knockers that month but at about 4:30p I had a lady wanting to sign. On the vero call they asked to do the credit check and that's when she freaked out. She told me nothing more than that she had to think about it and closed the door on me. Odd as that was I wasn't in the mood to care either way because the only thought on my mind all day has been about the other job that I could do instead. At about 5:45p I finally got a sale with a lady who works at Big W. She didn't put up much of a fuss - just verified that I was saving her money and went on with it. On the phone I got one of the nicer reps and decided to ask about any openings there and, as it turns out, he was keen to inform me of an opening posted on seek. After that sale I went over to an appointment where I found that they were getting 20% off their Origin bill so I called my brother David and told him to check that since he's with Origin.
05/03/2012
Today a few of us were called in about our slow week - hopefully I get off this turf before it gets me fired. Fortunately, I was able to make two sales today - both were English transplants.
05/04/2012
Today I had another donut (no sales). I had a guy at one point signing up, he asked me about the contract and I told him that there was one but that we guarantee the best deal - if he finds a better deal he can leave with no fees. During the vero call the rep told him about the contract and the guy freaked out saying that I hadn't told him about a contract... After that I went on talking to other people until I stumbled upon a friend from the meetings! I spoke with her and her husband and found that they were already getting a pretty good discount from Origin so I let it go. We did manage to find another possible job for me though - selling pharmaceuticals. While I don't relish the idea of going from my current job to another sales job, I may not have a choice the way things are going. Back in the city everyone went out for work drinks at The Elephant pub and I had a schnitzel.
05/05/2012
Today I worked two shifts in a row at the hostel then got ready for Rugby but didn't end up going. After going to meeting hall I headed to Hungry Jacks with Pillar and a couple others where we used three of my coupons to get six burgers.
05/06/2012
Today we went to Clarence's house for a brekky meeting then to meeting hall where I ate my third burger from the night before.. I was sure I had food poisoning but as the day went on I realized that the food here really is healthier than the US. This day old burger was fine while a couple burgers only recently bought from a Maccas in the US made me deathly ill...
05/07/2012
Today we went to new turf up in the hills and I made three sales.
The first was to a German lady who moved here 20 years ago. The next was to a local girl who was actually visibly excited about the deal. The last guy was an Englishman, also in sales, who heard me out and liked the deal as well. After work the newbie Erica offered me some information on a room for rent at $95/week ($42 if I can find a roommate).
05/08/2012
Today the weather was nice and sunny but the turf was hilly and spread apart. At 3p I had only spoken to 15 people and only a couple had been willing to even show me their bills. One lady showed me her bill, explained that she was definitely looking for a better deal but turned me down when I offered to sort it out for her. After a few more unusual rejections I finally found a lady who was, not only looking to save some money on her electricity, but was actually in a position to save thousands of dollars on it. After sorting her out I went back down to a mansion where I had made an appointment to return but the guy didn't even give me a moment to speak. Fortunately, just up the road a bit I found a lady who was absolutely on the ball. She had done her research, found a good deal but still didn't sign a contract in case a better deal like mine came along. She had already heard of us and with our lower rates and offer to match any deal she was happy as ever to sign up. She also had her daughter sign up and called a friend who was then interested to sign up as well. In the end I didn't have time to help her friend out but this did finish me on three sales - all within 1.5 hours!
05/09/2012
Today I made a sale at three then with another I was extremely compliant in explaining that she was signing a contract but on the vero call, after I filled out all the paperwork, she decided that she didn't understand about the contract and wasn't willing to take responsibility. I left frustrated - some people seem to think that they're doing us a favor by signing up. A guy on Monday disapproved of my using the word "retailer" as opposed to the word "provider." I feel that a "supplier" also provides and therefore, to avoid confusion, I prefer the word "retailer" when describing what the company does. We don't supply/provide electricity, we simply bill for it so instead of playing his little game I decided it best to just leave.
At about 5p I was on just the one sale and starting to feel the pressure. Fortunately I found a lady who had spent some time in the UK. Even though she was technically Australian, she still showed the same interest that most English seem to. After selling to her I headed over to an appointment where I caught a couple who loved to bargain. After selling to them I listening to the lady tell me how she spent two weeks bargaining to get a good deal on her car I thanked them for not taking two weeks with me and headed back to the van. After picking everyone up we found that we had hit our target and went for pizza.
05/10/2012
Today I started out early with a sale to a nice couple who asked me some good questions and agreed to the savings. Another guy allowed me to crunch the numbers and show him exactly how much he would be saving but wasn't too keen to sign anything. A lady later on allowed me to start the paperwork but then decided to wait for her husband to come home... tomorrow. Finally, at the end of the day I had many appointments and ran to all of them. Most didn't answer the door, one was existing and another thought I was a con artist.
05/11/2012
I spoke with a lot of nice people today but none of them bought from me. One lady seemed very keen but then after getting all the info from me she sent me on my way. Another lady was on her way out but, after we talked about the bug on her door a bit, she agreed to sign if I was still around when she got back.
Finally one guy actually used to be a representative for Simply Energy and I was sure he would go for the deal I was offering bu he was signed up with AGL and not interested in changing... odd considering that he worked in the industry - he should know better. For an hour at the end of the day Brendan walked with me to show me how to make the sales in this area but unfortunately he couldn't make any progress on my turf either.
05/12/2012
After work today I went to check out the room that Arika told me about. The room was really spacious - especially considering that it's only $95/week! After chatting with Hugh for a bit he told me about a dish washing job paying $24/hour and offered to give my number to his friend who runs the place. Next I headed back to the hostel and made a tasty meal of three eggs, 2 snags (hot dogs), hash browns (two potatoes) - all smothered with cheese.
05/13/2012
Today at the meeting hall we woke up at 7:30a and went to breakfast at Clarence's house. We ate porridge again like last week but this time with all the bamboo and roots mixed in and some bread chunks on top. After the meeting I cycled over to David's, James' then caught a bus to Mt Barker to meet up with the girl from my sale on Wednesday. It turned out to be an hour and a half ride followed by a 5km walk only to arrive in the wrong place...
05/14/2012
Today I finally got some of my prizes from balloon pops including a $20 gift card, $50 gift card, a carton of beers, and a box of no-doz. My first sale today was to a guy who used to be a chef. He gave me a recipe for tasty apple whip and we talked electricity over a cup of South African Tea. We talked it over with his wife there as well and they decided it was worth trying. I signed them up and he sent me off with a variety box of different teas. The next guy was just chilling on his porch with a cup of coffee and after discussing some things about his solar and the way electricity works he was good to sign up as well. Finally I met a guy who was eager to talk politics and stuff but not so keen on the topic of electricity.
05/15/2012
Today I made four sales, the first was to a nice English couple who had arrived just three days before I did. They made me a cup of tea and I fixed them up while talking about travel in Australia and New Zealand. Having been where I am before, they advised me to save up while in Australia in order to properly enjoy New Zealand when I go there. New Zealand jobs pay less and the fun things cost more so I'll have to pay to really get the most out of my time there. My second sale was to a Canadian guy who moved here many years ago and started a painting business while on a working holiday visa like me. My third sale was to another English guy who makes a living as an electrician. Finally, it was getting late but I managed to sell to a guy even though he was extremely paranoid. As he put up his concerns about me stealing his information, signing him up for higher rates, and invading his home I calmly explained about the government body monitoring door knockers, the rates/discount I would be providing, and that I was not in any way a dangerous person. To my astonishment he actually accepted my explanations and allowed me to sign him up. After work I finally decided to send some money back to my American account in the amount of $3000.
05/16/2012
Today I made two sales. The first one was to a couple people who had recently signed up with Alinta. As I explained the benefits to my company we got to talking about travel and various political/cultural things. As we talked they gave me a cup of tea, a beer and offered to take me hunting. After a bit it was time to move on so we made plans to hang out again and I moved on. At about 5p I managed another sale to a guy who used to work for Alinta. After I explained what he pretty much already knew, he signed up. A few houses down I started to knock on a door while listening to the conversation going on inside but then realized that it was a Simply Energy rep making a sale. This guy had been pillaging my turf all day but he was just doing his job so I let it be. Back at the hostel I did some bleaching, which makes me sick, and some sanding for Wayne.
05/17/2012
Today Matt figured it would be good to get rid of "cherry picking" - only knocking doors with cars and signs of life for the first part of the day. The whole channel did worse than it has ever done before. I still managed three sales so tomorrow the whole channel has to be in at 9:30a but I don't have to be in until 10:30 since I hit KPI (Key Performance Index). My first sale today was to a lady who signed by impulse then realized she should have spoke to her husband so I had to reassure her with the cool down period to keep her from backing out. My next sale was to a guy at the end of the day who went along with the process without any fuss. My final sale was unexpected - I had gone to several appointments and really wasn't expecting anything from the last door. They answered the door and, before I could say much of anything, they welcomed me in to see their bill and sign them up just as Vero was closing. We talked about Seattle a bit and it turns out the Pike Place Market is more famous than I really knew - the guy was even familiar with the FISH! philosophy. On the way back I was looking ahead as we drove down the freeway at 80kph and just noticed the approaching light turning red before coming to a screeching halt. Brendan, having been in two accidents in the last few months, clutched his chest in fear while staring ahead and breathing shallow, panicked breaths.
05/18/2012
Today we went just out of the city and started knocking at 11:30a yet I was only able to manage one sale to a lady who, after checking reviews on the web, was weary of our company. Of course, I asked her the obvious question, "do you ever go online to brag about your energy retailer?" - no retailer has good reviews...
Later on I had a guy who seemed keen but as I was filling in the paperwork he went to help his dad with something and came back with dumbphone in hand having read the reviews on Lumo... I told him the same thing I told the other lady and he allowed me to continue the paperwork only to come back a minute later and tell me it just wasn't a good time.
At another door a girl told me she didn't speak English but just to be sure I said, "that's fine, I'm just here about the pink elephant, go grab me a bill and I'll check that out for you."
As my day was coming to an end I was invited into a party. After discussing the host's bill we found that it wasn't really worth it to him at this time so he poured me a drink and we talked a bit. Back at the van Brendan told everyone to just enjoy the weekend and not worry about scores. At the office Danny had a borrowed bicycle from city bikes so we raced to the pub where everyone met up and had a couple drinks. I had a mountain of Nachos and we all headed over to the Little Bar on Hindley Street for Ben's birthday.
05/19/2012
Today I worked at the hostel then headed over to the Bailey Reserve to try my hand at Rugby with Fred from the bar the other week. When I got there a guy named Owen set me up with some cleats, shorts and a jersey and I bought some team socks. Out on the oval they explained the rules a bit while watching the teams play and at the end they put me in. It wasn't long until I found myself with the ball running towards the opposition. After a short sprint I pushed into a couple of the guys and found myself flipped over, ball still in hand. After a couple more plays a couple of the guys got into a brawl yet the game went on.. for one more play as the biggest guy from our team (a seven foot tall monster) bee-lined it for one of the offenders and laid him out. At this point the ref called the game, we shook hands and headed back.
05/20/2012
Today Daniel and Sam got me up for eggs, ham/bacon, avocado and toast at the brekky meeting. At the meeting hall Arika from work and her friend Circle showed up for the meeting. Afterward Arika and Circle went back to their share house to say goodbye to some of the others and I went with Pillar for lunch. After lunch I rode over to James' house to do some weeding for him and found a blue tongued lizard!
Next I headed into the city to check on my job application at the Kings Head Bar. They had lost my resume and started to say how they didn't need anybody anyways but when I mentioned that I was just there for the dishwasher position they perked up and invited me to reapply.
05/21/2012
Today I went for pants but, even though mine were ripped in the crotch and down on the shin, I couldn't find anything better. At work I received another slab of beer for one of the balloons I popped a couple weeks ago. Out on turf I only made one sale to a lady who was relatively apathetic but nice. Back at the hostel after work Stephen gave me some steak and eggs in exchange for one of my beers.
05/22/2012
Today I made first sale but that was it. The guy I sold to was a programmer and was very logical in considering what I had to offer. After leaving there I saw many bills and talked to many people, I even had another sale started by about 2p but they backed out when I clarified that there was a contract. They gave me cookies and coffee as I worked on the paperwork but in the end they decided to talk to their landlord first...
05/23/2012
Today I got a balloon for making the first sale in the channel yesterday. Having made just the one sale I didn't feel like I earned it. On turf I saw some pretty interesting homes but didn't make any sales till around 4p.
The sale I made was to an Indian couple and it took about an hour because their NMI was from another property. I could have let that slide but I decided to do the right thing and make sure it matched up. They were pretty excited about the deal even though they originally weren't interested in signing a contract. Back at the van Brendan had the defrost running and lights on so, of course, the van battery died and we had to get one of the local residents to jump the battery. After picking everyone up it became apparent that nobody did very well so "pitzer" (pizza) Wednesday" was out of the question. Back at the hostel I was eating when a guy I met named Don showed up again and said that a pruning job paying $200-400/day was available so I decided to hand in my resignation at KK Sales.
