Long week

In a good way. I haven't blogged because it has been quite a busy time. Not something I was expecting to hear myself say at this point in time, especially as I have been looking for work. But I do have my trusty diary and am able to back-blog from last Thursday. So here it goes!

LAST THURSDAY:
I was meant to be helping out my friend for her Body Pump instructor training (even though she hasn't started yet, she's commencing on Saturday!). I told her we didn't need to do anything, as most of the things that she needs to know for the first weekend will be covered when she starts. So I had the day to myself while Mum was at work. I continued on my job hunting ways and applied for a position in a vintage shop which is run by a charity and who are willing to pay big bucks! I know it may seem erroneous to only look at the money side of things, but I really do want to help my Mum out (she doesn't need it and she hasn't asked, but I would still like to help out). Plus, I know me. I get bored easily. While it's been great having time to myself and recovering from my 9 month trip, I know that I will want to sink my teeth into a new challenge. That's why it didn't concern me when I left my job last year at the cake shop. My time had come and I was getting bored and frustrated (even though I do want to get back to the cake shop, purely for the financial security. Can you tell I'm getting older?!)

I was looking for the kind of work that is being offered and it's the same as always (which is good). I had assumed there was a huge lack of jobs available (although last Saturday when I got the employment section from the newspaper, it was significantly smaller than it was at this time last year - about a third of the size. But at the end of the day, jobs are out there. And if you aren't fussy with the kind of work - within reason - then there won't be a problem with finding work). I had shortlisted possible places to apply for and it came up to quite a list, so I was very confident with finding something.

FRIDAY
Not much on during the day - spent time with Mum, as she doesn't work Fridays during the day.

At night I had a mini reunion with the people I worked with at the cake shop. It was a combined 'welcome back' for me (I never had a farewell party and they were kind of miffed about it, so I said I'd have a 'welcome back' shindig). As well as my welcome back, it was a bon voyage for my friend Robert who also works at the shop and who is going to Europe for 6 weeks. I had presents for him, which I had conveniently left at my house (nice to know that some things don't change with me!)

It was an interesting night, as I had met up with almost all the people from the cake shop that I used to work with. It started out with me going into the shop to see one of my favourites (aside from Robert) and catch up with her. Everybody was encouraging me to get my job back. It was at this time that I found out an interesting fact, which I may have to backtrack further...

On the day I arrived, I went home, dropped off my suitcase and went out with my best friend to talk about her pending wedding and my bridesmaid duties. We ended up going to the cake shop to talk to Robert, who is very knowledgable in the wedding business. So I popped into the shop and saw the girls, Robert and my old manager. She was asking me what I was doing work wise and what my plans were. I told her I'd be getting my job back at the gym slowly and looking for something else while I set up my own personal training business. Apparently, when she asked me that, she was 'dropping hints' for me to ask for my old job back. I never picked up on them. (I will add now that I do not handle hints well. Quite simply, I just don't do hints. If you want to ask or tell me something, be direct and just ask/tell me. If I don't tolerate 'hint dropping' from my boyfriend, I'm hardly going to tolerate it from my old boss!) I had a few quibbles with this:
a) The manager does this all the time - if she needs to be direct, she will. But you can tell she doesn't like it. Even one of the staff said, 'You know what she's like, she wants you to take initiative. She knows how you work and she knows you're good - and she doesn't have to go through the whole training process with you, which she hates!', to which I said, 'If she desperately needed someone, she would ask me'. It's logical. If you need someone, you're going to tell people. That kinda leads me to point b
b) Dropping hints isn't going to do anybody any good. If you need someone, you need someone, period. You're not going to be subtle about it. I am direct - what can I say? You may have seen me or realised from a while back (from me taking on the psycho housemate in Madrid, remember her?!) At least with me being direct, you know what I'm thinking and you know where I stand. There's no 'ifs' or 'buts' - all cards are on the table. Being indirect like this is childish. It may simply be fear of rejection, but you need to embrace rejection. That's what I think anyway.
c) This just reiterated the fact that nothing in the work dynamics of the shop has changed. It's all the same politics and crap as before. I'm not even back working there and I'm still being sucked into that vortex of bullshit.

These were a few things on my mind. Robert finished work at 6 but we booked a Thai restaurnt for 7pm. We hung out and were catching up before joining the others at 7pm. It was a big turnout for a last minute gathering. I sat next to my manager and had told her I'd be asking for my job back (in a jokey way though, so I believe she took it as a joke and didn't take me seriously). She didn't bring it up again, so neither did I. She got drunk and was telling me that I have a fear of commitment because all of my past relationships (and my current one) have been long distance and she was giving me shit for it. I knew she was drunk, but not excessively to the point that she didn't know what she was saying. She knew exactly what she said and it pissed me off. I ignored her for the rest of the night and realised that I do not want to go back to the cake shop. Exective decision: I'll be looking for something else. For someone who complains there is not enough intimacy in her long marriage, I think it was a bit thick of her to offer advice and cast judgement on my situation, considering I've been out of the country for so long.

It wasn't just her being negative, it was everybody else too. I had mentioned that I was thinking of buying a second hand car from a friend of mine. I had done my research and knew I was getting a good deal, but as soon as I brought that up, everybody was being a downer about it and just saying, 'never buy a used car from a friend' and giving me the worst of horror stories. They have always been negative fucks because their lives suck and they want to make everybody else's life as sucky as theirs. I worked there for nearly 3 years and I was getting as negative as them. It was hard, as I had made a conscious decision to surround myself only with positive people, only to have to work with the most depressive, angry and bitter people I have known in my life. I voluntarily stayed out of negative people's way, but what happens when you work with them? It's about 7 people I work with who fit that description - and on Fridays I worked with ALL of them on the same day. It's there that I thought: is the money really worth it? Do I want to go back to all of that negative crap for $150 a day? At that moment I was clear in my mind. I had been toing and froing with whether I could go back to the cake shop, but I made a final decision. No. And I was happy. No amount of money could justify me going back to a place where I have to deal with such utter crap from people who are in their 50's who are acting like kids who are 4 (and I'm guessing those kids would be better behaved than these so called adults)

SATURDAY
Set my alarm for 8.20am to go to the 8.50 Combat class at the gym. My alarm didn't go off and I had opened my eyes at 8.36am. Still enough time to get changed and half jog half walk to the gym. I made it and had such a roll that I ended up staying for 2 additional classes: a 1 hour studio cycle class (which is nuts! usually they go for 45 minutes - it was my first ever hour long spin class!) and then followed it up with yoga. It was the last yoga class before the timetable change kicked in, and 16 people rocked up to yoga - the highest ever. The reason it was taken off the timetable was because nobody was coming to them! So everyone signed a 'petition' to get the managers to change the timetable back again to include yoga. Don't think it's going to work. I hope it does, but if things will change, it's going to take some time.

Got home, had a shower and then received a phone call from my friend who was selling the car. I was going to go to her house for a test drive. She lives near the cake shop, so I had to make my way over again to that side of town. I passed the cake shop and had seen 3 girls that I had yet to catch up with, so that was nice. Proceeded to my friend's place. She is Japanese, so as soon as she invited me in I took my shoes off. Force of habit! She gave me the car for the whole weekend, which I wasn't expecting! For a 1990 hatchback, it looked like it was in really good condition. The only problem was there was no power steering and I was struggling with parallel parking. I ended up driving back to my house, then out to my best friend's place, then her fiancee's, then into the city, then back again to the 3 houses above. So I got a good indication of what it would be like to drive the car. The lack of power steering did it for me and was way too much.

The reason why I went to my best friend's place was because we had planned on taking a tour of Old Melbourne Gaol, which is one of the oldest jails in town and the last one to have enforced capital punishment. A friend of a friend was the one who organised it, but we had to pick up the rest of the crew from her fiancee's place, have dinner and then find parking in the city. On a Saturday night. We got lucky - we found 3 free spaces! Parallel parking was a pain with no power steering. OUCH!

We got to the meeting place, but it was cold and rainy. I wasn't cold, but everybody was complaining about it. They need to spend a winter in Canada, then they can try and tell me what cold weather is! We got to the tour to discover that it was not the Old Melbourne Gaol night tours (those tours are great - the gaol is scary in the daytime, imagine in the dark!). This particular tour was a 'ghost tour' of Melbourne. And it wasn't even that - it was more of a history of Melbourne tour. It wasn't that interesting. If you're a history buff, then maybe it would have been entertaining. But it was a 2 hour long walk around the city, pointing up to places that have reported sightings of ghosts. It sounds more interesting when you write it down and read it. But it wasn't worth it. My best mate was pissed off, her future sister in law complaining of the cold, her fiancee laughing at her and me enjoying the walk, but not the content. It was a great night!!!!

I was the designated driver - it was the first time my friend's fiancee and his sister saw me drive. I don't think they want to see me do it again!

SUNDAY
As I had the car, Mum and I decided to go to a family friend's house for lunch. To be more specific, I stayed with this lady's sister when I stayed in Chile. We've been close family friends. She's the closest thing I have to a grandmother, so it was nice to see her.

I decided not to buy the car, so I returned it back to my friend's house, then had to go home by public transport. On a good day, it takes 40 minutes. This day, it took 90 minutes because the trains tracks were being repaired. I had to take a replacement bus to South Yarra, then catch a train for 1 stop to get off at Richmond to connect to my local train. It was a 20 minute wait for the train. But it was one of my few times I was in the city at night. I was looking over the skyline and was truly happy to be back home. I couldn't get the smile off my face - and I didn't want to either.

MONDAY
The job search continues. I narrowed down quite a list of places I'd like to work in. I was fond of one place - a cafe - because it was in my suburb. I've always had to catch public transport to work, so I fancied the idea of just walking to my workplace. I gave them a call and left a message saying if the position was still available to give me a call. I wasn't hopeful of this one, as this position had been advertised for a while and I believed they may have already hired someone. Still, it didn't hurt my chances just to double check!

Caught up with a friend of mine who I met in Japan. She's from Sendai, where I used to live and is now living and working in Melbourne. It was good to see her as well. It was just a short meeting, as she's quite a busy girl now.

TUESDAY
Spent the day editing 2 of my friend's works. Mainly spelling and grammar - as I've never edited professionally. But it was a lot of fun! In the editing process I managed to cheer up one of my friends and was able to give some constructive feedback to the other.

WEDNESDAY
Job searching. Narrowed the field and was preparing resumes and such. Had to cal my old workplace (the gym) to get my tax forms so I can do my tax. Spoke to the manager, who is keen on me going back to do classes (but not personal training, it's not worth my time. Classes are). I said yes, so they have put me back on the 'fill-in' list. Plus, Chris, the coordinator, knows me and needs instructors because 2 of her main ones have gone overseas as well. One for 6 months, one for 3 months. So it'll be good to get back to classes.

While I was doing my job stuff, I got a phone call from the employer that I called on Monday. It turns out she called me because I'm a local, and also because she had someone on trial for the job, but it wasn't going to work out. She asked what kind of hours I was looking for, but then was telling me all the tough things about the job - how hard it is, labour intensive, how ppl who have had experience have struggled, how it's 'their way or the highway', as it's a family run business. So I wasn't getting a good vibe, but I did agree to pop in the following day to have a chat to Gail the owner. A nice little surprise!

TODAY
It's been exactly 2 weeks since my return from Japan and my world trip, and I have celebrated by going to a trial/interview at a cafe that is in my suburb. It turns out that it's a leisurely 30 minute walk to get there - or 5 minutes in the bus. But Andy the Walker likes walks! So it was a no brainer for me. I arrived 10 minutes early - thinking it would be a mini trial. And it was, so I was dressed for it. They mainly do catering for offices in the area as well as make fresh sandwiches, rolls, focaccias, pies, coffees - a regular cafe. But they need someone who preferably has a fresh slate and can be moulded to doing things their way (done, I haven't worked at the cake shop for 9 months - so I have promptly forgotten stuff!) I practiced making sandwiches, but obviously I was quite slow at it. They all seem like a nice family. Gail and her husband take care of the catering side, whereas the daughter and son stay and focus on the shop/cafe side. While I was making the sandwiches, Gail told me to imagine I was making a sandwich for myself. Little does she know how stingy I am with the fillings, so I was doing the same. It turns out these guys are generous with their servings, so I can stack a whole lot of stuff in there, which is lovely!!! It's just the prices of stuff I'll have to learn, which is fine. And making stuff in front of customers. But it's all practice. Gail seemed impressed when I told her I was a personal trainer and that I walked to the cafe from my place. It all seems to be going well. They asked me to return tomorrow for a full day's trial during lunch, their busiest time! Wish me luck - I'm sure it will be like the cake shop!

I'm still applying for another fitness related position that is full time and requires a bit of travelling interstate (WOO HOO BABY!) But we'll see!

So there you go - this week in Andy's life. Tune in next week to find out if she gets the position and other interesting tidbits of her life :)