lil chunkaaa

I am bored.  I have been bored this whole day.  Bored, but with stuff to do.  I think they are fucking with me at my job.  They give me like 65 page documents and tell me to retype them.  So whenever I have nothing to do, I am doing that, retyping stuff that's already typed.  It is really funny.  And since they have this $3000 cappuccino machine there, sometimes I am too hopped up from pounding caffeine all day to be able to concentrate on my typing.  LOL.  Ahhh, the life of a temp.  Checked in with other job today, aka real job.  Dude says they are still sorting things out and will know next week.  I don't understand.  When they checked my references, I thought I had it in the bag.  But temp boss says they check the refs on the top 3 applicants, which is kinda annoying.  If I was top 3 in like 5 jobs I applied for, they would keep contacting my references? Seems weird. Keep in mind, I applied to this job the first week of DECEMBER!!!

Anyway, if I don't get the job, I won't be too bummed.  Who am I kidding?? Yes I will, no one likes rejection, but there is a bright side.  If I stay at cappuccino typing job and dont kill myself -- which they said is fine, I can stay as long as I like --I will be able to save enough to go home for a little bit in early summer.  I am going to be home alone from May-July, so I figure maybe I will just peace out for a while.  In October I can apply for a real visa, without any complications, so this might be the year of temping.  If this is not making any sense, I will explain.  The reason I am having a tough time getting hired is my visa.  I have the "backpacker's visa." It's a one year visa you can get til you're 30.  I can work with it, but only for 6 months per job.  In October, I will have lived "de facto" with Jason for a year, meaning in the eyes of immigration, we are in a "serious and committed relationship" and I can then get a "partner visa."  Basically like a green card, and sorry for all the quote marks.  So, get job, stay in Darwin.  Don't get job, visit home.  Both are ok  :)

If I do get the job, I am joining the gym -- HOL-LA!  No more running this fucking circle outside.  I run around the marina in my neighborhood and I have had it with that shit.  It's very pretty -- nice houses, boats, dogs, 2 bridges...and hot/humid as hell!  I am drenched in sweat, I get sunburned, bitten by bugs, attacked by crocs, everything bad.  And sticking to the plan, I have had tofu for the last 3 dinners, LOL.  I seriously wish I could just eat whatever I want -- dont we all??  Remember when the low carb fad had just started and I tried to prove it wrong by inventing the Dr. Al-kins diet?  There were 3 basic ingredients to any Alkins meal -- flour, cheese, and tomatoes -- because nearly everything delicious contains these elements.  Pizza!  Pasta!  Burritos!  Breakfast burritos!  Lasagna!  Grilled cheese!  You get the picture...  Anyway, Alkins is a good plan if you want to move from lil chunkaaa to supreme chunkaaa, which was the result of that.

Ok, enough rambling, just one last thing...  I just happened to come across this article tonight about how Aus prices are way disproportionate to the rest of the world and one major difference they mentioned is books!  Thank you!  Apparently, due to some fucking law passed in 1968, Australia does not import books, they are all printed here...higher wages = more expensive books.  Need...my...Kindle!!!

http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/consumer/article/-/12982759/australia-s-pricey-prices

Can't stop, won't stop

Scratching, that is!!  Can you scratch yourself to death?  Because I could be headed for the incredibly torturous death by scratching.  I don't like midges!!!  (pronounced midgee, btw).  Argh.  By the time I leave Darwin, I will be covered in scars from insect bites...sexy.

As if things couldn't get any worse with unwanted things in the apartment, my roommate now has it in his head that he wants a bird.  Dead serious.  He's like, "Oh I asked today if we can have pets.  They have to get back to me, but if they say yes, I am going to get a bird."  I was so thrown off that I didn't know what to say.  He has brought up wanting a bird before, but now that he is supposed to be getting deployed, I just assumed bird was off.  Then -- and I dont know how this happened -- he went to use a washing machine in another apartment (our washer is being repaired) and these people had the fucking bird!!  He comes back all excited -- "Guess what?!  They have a bird over there!!  It was sitting on the couch eating cheesy bread out of the Domino's box!!  How awesome is that?!?!"  NOT AWESOME AT ALL!! I said, "You can't get a bird, you are going to overseas," to which he said, "Oh I will bring the bird down to Melbourne."  Seriously???  I am going to throw this bird on the barbie.   I am so hoping this whole bird thing blows over before we have to have an argument about it. Grrrrrrr.

UPDATE:  I just went out to the kitchen to get a snack (obvs) and he called me over to look at pictures of birds!  NOOOOO!  I said, "I am not so sure about this bird," and he said, "Haha."  FML

I'm itchy!

Home alone!  Home alone!  Is this toothbrush approved by the American Dental Association?  LOL

Ok, I am not really home alone, my roommate is here too.  But, Jason is gone all week, leaving me to run a muck in the fiesta!  Except I hate driving...especially on the other side of the road and a manual car.  Who can believe I drive stick anyway?  And there is nowhere to go.  Alright, what I am really going to do is eat tofu, start Hunger Games, write in the blog, and drink wine!  YESSSSSS!  In fact, I just had some tofu to kick things off.  Now I need some wine.

As you know, I work now.  Life is incredibly exciting.  I work in a 2 person office that is one mile from my house.  Even though it is only a mile, I don't walk there -- way too hot and dont want to smell all day.  When I say 2 person, I mean myself and one other person are usually there -- but that person can change from day to day.  I don't have much to do, so if you see me on gchat, HOLLA!  I dont mind the job for now, but I think after a month there I would lose my shit.  I am still hopeful about the one I interviewed for, although they are taking their sweet time with the hiring process.  They did check up on my references though, shout out to Brandon for the glowing recommendation he gave... thanks boo!

So the main unit air conditioning broke last week, leaving us in Darwin with no a/c.  That's comfortable... NOT.    Pretty sweet that it takes them a whole week to send someone to fix it.  Not like we need it.  Cooking and eating in the house is just ridiculous.  You sweat cooking, then you sweat while you are eating, then you sweat while washing dishes.  I have to shower after I eat.  It is so hot, that we sit away from the lights to keep a little cooler.  It is also too hot to cook outside on the grill or the portable burner.  I did make the shabu shabu on Friday though, and despite there being equal parts sweat to broth, it was delicious :)

Shabs

Another horrible thing about Darwin -- yes, ANOTHER thing -- is if eating outside, your dinner will be destroyed by mosquitoes, or even worse, midges.  I dont like to spray insect repellent on myself because that shit cant be good for you, but really you have no choice.  Repel or succumb.  I had never heard of these "midges" before, but these little fuckers will fuck you up worse than a mosquito.  They are TINY biting flies, you almost cant even see them.  But they sting when they bite and make you SO itchy.  I am covered in them right now.  And being slightly crazy and paranoid, I am convinced they are still biting me here in my bed.  Phantom bites!

UGH

Who thinks working 5 out of the 7 days a week is 2 days too much, raise your hand!!!

hahaha, It's thursday of my first week and already bitching.  I will be posting more next week when I am home alone all week :)

Like it or not...

I start working on Monday.  I am excited to have money and get out of the house, it just all happened so fast!  I met with a temp agency on Wednesday and they already have a permanent assignment for me.  It's near my house at a training and recruiting agency.  Small, laid back office, so I think it will be a good fit.

I also had my govt interview today, which I think went well.  Except when they asked me if my visa was all sorted. I said yes, which might not be entirely true.  But I have 6 months before I have to worry about that.  So we'll see, they said things are slow moving, so I might not know right away if I got that position.  Either way, I have a job.  

Ant Invasion!

OK, that is it.  I am not fucking around anymore, these ants bout to get fucked up!  The past 2 days have been the worst ant days yet.  They got in the drawers... silverware, cooking utensils, and knives drawers all had to be emptied and scrubbed and all contents washed.  I even replaced the fucking drawer liners for petes sake!  I put the stuff back in, but I kept the drawers out, thinking if they were coming in from the walls, being on the counter would at least deter them a little bit (did that make any sense?).  Obvs it did not work!  Today ants were so bad, I actually had to take the drawers OUTSIDE and wash them down with the HOSE.  I feel so defeated!  I really cant handle it anymore.  I threw away any wooden spoons I had because they seem to be particularly attracted to those.  I don't want to be throwing my own shit away!!

Yesterday was a major day for ant research and it has been determined that I have "coastal brown ants."  Apparently they have taken Darwin by storm in the last 5 years.  They eat anything -- sugars, proteins, wooden spoons -- and are often looking for water as well as food.  Oh, almost forgot, I went to make coffee and the kettle was loaded, that has never happened before!  So, like I mentioned before, it's not raining right now, so ants are coming in looking for water.  Ants, hello?!  There is a pool 10 feet away, go there!  These ants nest outdoors and given I live in an apartment complex, it will be nearly impossible for me to find their nests.  Ok, now it gets crazy.  I read they build "super colonies" and if they feel their colony is stressed (ie poisoned, flooded), they join some friends in another colony, just making their population even bigger.  Also read they recognize the scent of ant baits and often won't eat them.  Someone said they can have "sacrificial" ants who will try the food first!  Are ants really smarter than me??

Word around Michie Court is that my upstairs neighbors are super untidy.  They just moved in around a month ago.  I am thinking this is not helping my situation either, ants prolly travel easily between our places. And yesterday, one little fucker bit me and left a mark bigger than a mosquito bite, wtf???

I am at a total loss.  All my food is locked up, like in ziplock bags inside of tupperware, but still they keep coming.  It is impossible for me to remove all moisture from my kitchen, many times they are hanging out around the sink.  The sink is always going to be a little wet!  I actually think it is the water that is really attracting them.  When we were gone, there were no ants because there was no water source.  ;-(  

to go running or to bake cookies?

THAT is the question...