Cheer up sleepy Jen

Tonight was the weekly 'steak night' but this time we (turtle-lips, Gus and I) were joined by the three other grads I work with. I had a great time but so did the girls when they all pointed out that they like watching the daily 'Jen almost fall asleep show'. I will be the first to admit that after all the bright lights of outside at lunchtime and the conversation that doesn't involve tax, coming back to talk about the medicare levy will often leave me stifling yawns or thinking up ways to stop my eyes actually closing. I just didn't think anyone was watching.
They say its not a bad thing and that they like the comfort of going 'gee I'm tired...but hey look Jen is too'. I have been starting pretty early though, but I work better in the morning so I think that probably has an effect.

I'd better get to bed...I want to be awake tomorrow!

Also I don't know if he reads this but if you are, billyjoe noodle-bob I hope Bram is better now (and Eve of course).

- Jen

Vodka Schmodka

I have no idea why after coming home from the gym the first thing I think to do is to update my blog.

I went out on Friday night and consumed an exorbitant amount of alcohol (there were vodka shots and beer involved) and after getting home at 5am on Saturday morning, felt considerably worse for wear for the rest of the day. Obviously I wasn't going to make it to the gym. This morning I decided that in the best interests of my health I should probably go and work up a bit of a sweat. Here's the thing, depsite putting deoderant on before hand, I STINK! I'm sure its all the alcohol I drank seeping out of my skin making me all stinky. And I still chose to blog about how bad I smell before I had a shower.

I've never done vodka shots before, probably because you don't really think of vodka as something you shot...and I had the vodka shot right after I'd skulled a beer (I lost at a drinking game) and so my stomach was not happy with me at all.

Next weekend should be pretty big. The man is coming up from Melbourne, we are throwing a birthday party for turtle-lips minus the turtle-lips because he has to work. AND at the end of this week I will have finished induction at work and will start my first rotation on Monday.

...I'm going to have to cut this short because I stink so badly I'm making my own nose wrinkle.

- Jen

After all, in the end...just pretend

Firstly I have to apologise for the lack of updates. I've been really busy with work and have also started going to the gym after work which has made me really tired and I've felt less like thinking up something to post. I'm going to the gym purely to get fitter and I'm starting to see some difference. Don't freak out everyone there is no chance of me losing weight what with my boss plying us with snickers bars and lollies on a daily basis and Tuesdays. Tuesday is steak night (beer, beer, steak and beer) usually followed by a visit to the ice-creamery. I guess I can count myself lucky Albury doesn't have a Cold Rock or a Max Brenner's otherwise I would be in real trouble.

Now THERE is something to write about. Max Brenners. Tony and Rae if you are reading this stay away from the south end of Highpoint..it's dangerous! The weekend before last I had the good fortune to have my first Max Brenner's experience. I had a cup of venezuelan dark chocolate which tasted like I was drinking melted dark chocolate with a tiny bit of milk.
I'm sorry to say I couldn't finish it. But I now know how Augustus Gloop felt like when he fell into the chocolate lake. The 'hug mug' made it all the better too! Basically its a mug with no handle that you grip with two hands (it is oval shaped) and you just drink out of like you would if you were drinking out of a beer stein with two hands.
I hope that made sense.

The above just goes to show why I'm going to the gym. I still believe as long as you balance your outgoings (exercise) with your ingoings (eating) then you can't go too far wrong (and EVERYTHING is alright in moderation). It just means that in order to be able to produce 'outgoings' you need to eat properly. Its no good trying to run 5kms of an afternoon if you had a salad for lunch. It just doesn't work that way. Thats why I'm liking my toasted ham and relish sandwiches. They seem to keep me going alright. I am pretty sore though and as much as I've started to get into running I think I might have to mix it up a bit. For the first time in my life I have a sore back!

Anyway enough about exercise. I'm getting pretty good at 'Just Pretend' by The Bens on guitar, and its nice and slow so not too hard to sing along to. Unlike 'Wish you well'. The song I can play okay but the singing...forget it!

I apologise for the lack of anything interesting to write. Anything interesting that happens at work isn't really anything I can post here and because I spend between 7-9 hours a day there 5 days a week it leaves very little other time for other bloggable material!

- Jen

.....and I've been working like a dog

pipthedog
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

I don't know about a hard days night because a hard days week would probably describe quite succinctly my first week at work.

I am E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D! Tomorrow after work I am going to Melbourne for the weekend to see the man. Apparently he is cooking us one of his magnificent roasts for dinner (he is easily the cook in our relationship) so that will be nice.

Luckily I am going with Ben and Rel because I started driving to work this morning (aiming to start at 8am) and my car decides that its finally had enough of kow-towing to me and my wants and needs in a motor vehicle and that it is going to make a significant enough of a grinding noise for me to NOT DRIVE IT TO WORK...and no I didn't leave the radiator cap off!

So I took Dad's ute, which is like or it is what I would imagine riding a white metal kangaroo to be like. It's pretty fun bouncing along, and when I got home from work the doggies (seen above) were actually pleased to see me. Until I opened the door. Then their tongues stopped lolling out of their mouths and their delirious pleasure about seeing 'Dad' was replaced by looks of utter disgust ("ew its that girl again").

I have to skip off to bed now because tomorrow I'm going into work with Mum (don't worry I'm going to disguise myself as a bludger so people won't think we are related) at 7am. I know! 7am!

- Jen

I'm going to nail it!

Nailed
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

After probably nearly 22 years of nail biting I have decided to quit. I managed to grow a tiny weeny nail on my left thumb and have now coated it in nail polish (clear) in an effort to protect it. There is also a half decent nail sprouting on my right middle finger.

My nails grow very quickly (probably because I chew them so much) so I am hoping that by next week I should have something to show.
I don't think I will be keeping them too long (in length) because they will probably impede my guitar playing but I will see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

- Jen

My first day..

First Day 2
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Although I technically started work last week today was my first day at my 'home site'. Work was pretty good, and although I felt a little tired in the morning a coffee at morning tea kept me going for the rest of the day! Despite any hopes I may have had...there are not a lot of people at work with the same surname as me...and so apparently I 'look like my mother' (for those who don't know my mother works at the same office).

I will definitely be going back tomorrow!

- Jen

Albury, Better, Computer, Guitar

Jentopia
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

I got this nifty little picture over at snapshirts.com. In case you can't tell its a nice little collection of the most used words on jentopia. Looks like Albury, Better, Computer, Guitar, Home, Jenu, Job, Like, Pretty, Thats, Think, Time and Work are the most used.

If you would like to see the most used words on your blog, click here.

A very taxing time

Wednesday morning and the beginning of my full-time working life began. So far I quite like my job even if it does look like it is going to be quite the challenge! Whether or not I can tell if I will really like my job just from the past 3 days I'm not sure but the people seem really nice and thats often what can make or break a job.

By the end of the week though (and now especially) I was exhausted. In fact it probably shows in my writing. Going out last night (while it was fun) probably didn't help me (or my bank account) so I think I will be heading to bed pretty soon. Unless I get a second wind and start playing guitar.

I can't really talk too much about work of course (a lesson dooce learned for all of us I think) but I'm sure as long as it isn't about any of my co-workers, members of the public, cases I am working on or anything else relating to my work I will be posting it here.

I will probably update tomorrow when I am in a better mood....and so much for bed the guitar calls.

- Jen

Home Something Home

So I'm back in Albury now and the 7 hours I have spent here haven't been too bad. I unpacked my suitcase..and then re-packed my suitcase (for Sydney tomorrow) caught up with turtle-lips and others from The LAN Mine and now I'm back home and it's 12:42am.

Leaving Melbourne and the man was really hard. I actually think I'm procrastinating about going to bed because its going to be weird. Not getting alarm clocks thrown at me or having to decipher any of the midnight conversations the man likes to have.

It will or should surprise no-one who knows me that I was pretty teary when I was leaving and thus had to manage my playlist on the way back accordingly. The following songs were skipped:

- Better together (Jack Johnson) : "It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving but I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together".

- Here without you (3 doors down)
- Someday, Someday (Thirsty Merc)
- Kiss me (Sixpence none the richer)
- I'm gonna love you anyhow (Elliot Smith)
- One thing (Finger eleven)
- Next year (Foo Fighters)

and you get the picture...there was a lot of playlist skippage. When I tired of singing 'Sunday Morning' I put on a Ricky Gervais podcast and that kept me occupied/entertained for the rest of the trip.

Once I actually got home I sought out the cat having fully prepared myself that she was in fact dead. I got the distinct feeling that something wasn't right at home when speaking to both of my parents during the last week and of course came to the totally obvious conclusion that Tib had disappeared/been run over/attacked by hungry labrador/committed suicide ...but once Dad had come home and the dogs had been fed and I was thinking 'surely he would have mentioned something by now'...Tib the cat turned up and so my fears were completely unfounded. She did look hungry and happy to see me however, and spent the rest of the night trying to lie on my keyboard. I guess we must have had a bad line or something because nothing else appears askew at home.

I won't be posting again until the weekend as I am off to Sydney tomorrow for work! That's right the big W starts on Wednesday. No more staying up until 1:17am blogging thats for sure.
Before I leave tomorrow I have to tell Centrelink I will be starting work on my job I have had since December and so will not be applying for 10 pointless jobs a fortnight, then I have to go and find out why Telstra are trying to weasel more money out of me because I have been overcharged again.

Wish me luck,

- Jen

Introducing.....

Alex! And definitely not wafty box who I may have mistakenly referred to her as in a previous post. She has just started her blog and her first post is pretty damn funny!


Click here to visit Alex

- Jen

What?

I got this over at Pumpkin Diary and have been wanting to do it for awhile so now that I have some more time to kill I thought I would have a go.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

10 years ago I was nearly 12 and I probably would have been starting year 6 at primary school...pretty scary eh? I actually played computer games..Commander Keen was pretty cool! I also had a sweet chicago bulls t-shirt.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

2004..Well I hadn't started this blog yet so I can't go back and check but it would nearly be the start of uni (o-week)...I was living at woodstock crt and probably alternating between Albury and Melbourne a bit. Col had just moved into woodstock crt as well.

What are 5 snacks that you enjoy?

- apples (have to be cold)
- chocolate (preferably dark)
- popcorn
- is coffee a snack?
- nachos!!

What are 5 things that you'd do if you were a millionaire?

- pay off my loan
- send turtle-lips overseas
- buy the man a motorbike (maybe)
- donate some
- buy myself something cool...don't know what though!

What are your 5 bad habits?

- Biting my fingernails
- Worrying for no reason
- Biting my fingernails
- Thinking too much
- Biting my fingernails

What are 5 things that you like doing?

- Reading
- Internet (blogging, reading other people's blogs and forums)
- 'playing' guitar
- listening to music
- hanging out with friends

What are the 5 things that you will never buy again?

- a game console (stupid xbox)
- a ralph lauren t-shirt (its too big for me NOW...how does that even work?)
- a short skirt..(it was hot alright....)
- stupid carved elephants whose trunks break off when you drop them once! (ONCE!)
- carob chocolate drops (who was I kidding...chocolate can NEVER be healthy..thats why it's so great!)

- Jen

That may be all I need!

The guitar thing is going remarkably well. The singing thing only happens when I'm by myself and then only under my breath..so its not going so well. BUT I would have to say one of my favourite songs is 'Sunday Morning' by Maroon 5. Its the song I cannot HELP to sing to in the car and its also STILL the ringtone on my phone. So it was only a matter of time before I attempted it. At first glance I didn't think I would have enough fingers to play it but with some easier chords and a little bit of singing it sounds pretty decent. I still have a lot of work to do on it yet though.
Which will have to wait because although my fingers aren't bleeding they ARE pretty sore.

- Jen

Kaiser Chiefs

kaiser
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

For the first time in ages I bought a cd! Yay! These guys did pretty well in triple J's hottest 100 and from what I've listened to so far I think they could be a 'jen hit'.

- Jen

Doesn't that sound familiar?

Excuse the lack of updating but what with the man's computer being stolen I have had limited access to a computer and went back to Albury for a couple of days this week (more on that later).

The title of this post comes from (Missy Higgins - Scar), I'm actually learning that on guitar at the moment. When I start getting better at the singing along thing it should sound pretty sweet!

Anyway at the behest of best friend I made the trip to Albury on Wednesday. Honestly she sounded so excited when I told her I was coming that I thought things might have been a little different to the typical goings out, but sadly not. Albury is still Albury...and I'm stuck here for another year. It's not that I'm upset at being stuck in Albury working because work should be okay, its the fact that once again I'm doing the long distance thing with the man. It also upsets me because having lived with the man for the summer now I know that it would have worked (living together) and thats brilliant. I mean thats a pretty serious relationship breaker - whether you can "live" together or not. For example turtlelips and I have very different definitions of what a clean toilet is. Where as the man and I are very neat people who have a similiar sense of humour (aka he teases me relentlessly and makes me laugh at myself) and similiar principles etc. I also love him to bits and I think that helps as well.

While I'm writing this the man and his housemate peter parker are playing "resident evil 4" on the remaining gamecube. RE4 being the first game that the man has rebought since the burglary. We had wafty box over for dinner tonight (corn and crab soup followed by roast pork and vegies) and we played "scene it" and "20 questions"...both of which she unquestionably won. It was still fun though with me referring to "tinkerbell" from "peter pan" as that **** fairy in the heat of the moment. There was also a short discussion on the possibility of their actually being such a movie as "dogs" or whether I just made that up (it was decided I was either getting confused with either "cats" or "cats & dogs").

Well I'm getting pretty tired and should get to bed.

- Jen
p.s. although my stomach is a bit rumbly tumbly at the moment - corn & crab soup rocks!

Robbed!

Sunday morning saw a phone call from the man's housemate peter parker bringing us the news that the man's house had been broken into. Unfortuantely for all involved and you my readers the man's computer has been stolen along with about 50 gamecube games, a gamecube, $1000 in cash that belonged to some of the man's friends staying here, clothes, alcohol and for some reason a jar of nescafe.

I say my readers too because it was the man's computer from which I was updating jentopia on. Luckily peter parker has kindly offered me his computer so I can keep writing.

Besides the fact that belongings etc are gone so is the feeling of being 'safe' in your own home (albeit it is the man's home). I feel a lot better than I did last night but nonetheless we are (and I say we because I think the man is feeling it too) on edge. We both got up off the couch to investigate the mystery of why the next door neighbours puppy was barking (it was excited about chewing up their hose) and we are looking for strange people (we both walked outside to watch the meter-reader before.... he looked a bit apprehensive about the staring).

Thats about it for now, will update about the rest of the weekend tomorrow. It should be a good story full of dramas about computer problems and other exciting events that happened in the last 3 days!

- Jen

Doctor Jen?

On Sunday the man had to go into work to set up some of his 'experiments' for the next day (it saves him time doing it on Monday and only takes about 20mins) so I waited downstairs in Cafe Kaz (at the Royal Melbourne). The shop that sells newspapers hadn't opened yet so I was forced to 'people-watch' and while gazing around an old man (who could be described as sprightly) was talking to everyone around him, eating a meal and clearing the tables as well. He seemed pretty chatty and before long moved around near me and started talking. He, turns out to be Eddie who comes in once a day for a hot meal because he can't cook much at home anymore. He asked what I do and I said that I work for the Tax Office and he looked at me and said "really, oh I thought you must have been one of those pretty young doctors that get about in here"..I WAS wearing a button up shirt and jeans so I supposed I looked a bit like a doctor in on a Sunday (minus the stethoscope). We got talking and it seems Eddie was knocked off his bike by a car (being driven with no headlights) and woke up three days later in the Royal Melbourne just as they were about to operate on his brain.The way he tells it, he was back riding his bike three days later but comes in for a hot meal and some company everyday anyway. Basically he lost some of his short-term memory so by talking to the staff and the customers he tries to remember names and recall them. I think he did a fantastic job. He might have called me the man's name once during our conversation when I told him why I was here but when the man came to get me when he was done Eddie said "hello the man and bye Jennifer". The man looked a little bit confused as to how this apparently batty old man knew his name but said g'day nonetheless.

It's bit like that episode of 'the simpsons' where Bart's segment on Lisa's tv show is "Bart's People"!! I don't know how many more Jen's people there will be...probably none.

- Jen

Brokeback Mountain Kerfuffle

Brokeback Mountain
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

I don't know if any of my legion of fans (thats you) happened to catch the news last night but there is a bit of kerfuffle going on about the release of Brokeback Mountain (yes the gay cowboy movie). Sadly it stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Jake what have you DONE!).Anyway the movie is not being shown in parts of Queensland even though there are apparently gay jackaroos (and jillaroos). What tickled my sense of humour was a Queensland member of parliament (who looks and sounds about as redneck as you can get) who was interviewed on TV last night who came out with this gem "maybe there are some (gay cowboys) out there but I've never heard of `em," ...closely followed with, "I mean, it's not a profession that attracts those sort of people."

I thought it was great the way the paper put in 'em' instead of 'them' in his quote..making him sound so much worse!!!

Oh well...good luck to 'em.


- Jen

Walkies

walkies
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

In an effort to stave of boredom and in the interests of physical wellbeing I walked into the city today. I stopped at RMH (Royal Melb. Hospital) and the man and I went down and had lunch at the markets and then walked over to QV (visited Sugar!) and then the man went back to work and left me to my own devices (also known as shopping). Despite SatanLink paying me today and despite my need for work clothes...I bought nothing. Although I found some pants..I know I can get them in Myer anywhere and they weren't on sale...and what is the deal with there being no size 8's?? I found a nice shirt...a little baggy for a size 10 (I usually wear in between an 8 and 10)...but they didn't have that or anything else (besides the pants) in a size 8!!

I walked back..realising just how stubborn I am. I got halfway back and thought...I CANNOT walk a step further but refused to pay $6.10 for a tram ticket when I'd already walked so far...and I eventually made it home.

The man and I are supposed to be going for a run/kick the footy when he gets home..so that should be interesting. Hopefully I will be a bit more perky by the time that happens because right now moving my toes hurts.

- Jen

The Perils of Payment - Round Two a Draw

This morning I rang centrelink (I've never had a problem with their customer service on the phone) and a charming young man by the name of Daniel told me that he understood where I was coming from but it did look like I would have to apply for jobs. He agreed I should apply for jobs that I was underqualified for because with so many hundreds of thousands of people entering these forms they aren't going to check something like that.

So I spent this morning applying for 10 jobs, filled in my diary, filled out my fortnightly form and took it down to centrelink. I was disappointed to witness only 1 fight but as I got there at 1:50pm and there was a sign saying that if I wanted to receive payment that the form had to be in by 2pm (obviously unbeknownst to organised old me) I was hopping from one foot to another (the impatience dance). The fight I did see involved some guy yelling at the lady on the desk about why he had to go and line up again. The lady was a lot tougher than she looked and was putting up a hell of a fight without so much as a tremble in her voice (experience perhaps) and kept stating "either you go to the back of the queue or you leave". This went on for 5 minutes with the people at the desk, the people in the queue waiting to be served and the rest of centrelink gawping. Not Jen. Impatient Jen growled and said "oh COME ON!!!"..and the line started crawling forward again. At 1:57pm I handed my form in, no troubles and I SHOULD get paid tomorrow.

The next saga will be where they send my next fortnightly form to. According to yesterday's "Centrelink Satan" it should go to my home address which is so accessible to me right now. So Mum and Dad are going to have to send the form down here to me at my "de facto's" residence. Ridiculous.

Mr De facto otherwise known as the man has decided he is going to start "training for pre-season footy training"...if he doesn't go tonight it will be the third night in a row he has managed to avoid this so called "training". I'd love to go and kick the footy with him but he wants to "run laps" or something horrible like that!

- Jen

The Perils of Payment - Round One to Centrelink

Today I had my (what I thought was final) interview with Centrelink (down at Newmarket). Being the conscientious and organised being that I am I had my birth certificate, statement from the lan mine saying I don't work there, and my 3 bank statements all ready to go. I arrived early about 4:30pm (for a 5pm appointment) because I had nothing better to do and at 5:35pm they called my name (35 mins late but I wasn't counting..much).

The centrelink staff member (who I will get to in a minute) and I sat down and then the fun started.

CSM: So you are living with your boyfriend
ME: Er no, not really..I mean I'm staying with him but I'm not paying rent or anything
CSM: So he is your de facto
ME: WHAT? No!
CSM: In order to pay you we will need statements of his income
ME: WHAT? No! I don't LIVE there..I'm just STAYING there!
CSM: Thats not what I have here
ME: Well yesterday they asked me if I was living with any males...so I said yes because I am!
CSM: You shouldn't have said LIVING...you should have said STAYING
ME: ...er ok..right (raises right eyebrow)

Anyway I ended up feeling like the lowest piece of scum in the world. To top it off..I have to look for jobs...and apply for 10 a fortnight...even though I ALREADY HAVE A JOB. Brilliant isn't it?
So instead of them just paying me the money, now I have to waste MY time (although I have a lot of it), I have to waste the companies whose jobs I apply for time (by them having to assess me as an applicant...EVEN THOUGHT I ALREADY HAVE A JOB) and I'm wasting centrelink's time because instead of just paying me (very easy) now every fortnight they have to check I have applied for the jobs I have, which is a waste of human resources (something that their obviously understaffed organisation should take into consideration)!

The centrelink staff member made me feel horrible. I was nothing but polite to her, I asked her "is it stressful working here?" (being the brilliant conversationalist that I am) and she replied "it is when you have to go through and change all these details because people give you incorrect information".
Once I had been given my "job diary"...I signed a "preparing for work agreement" and left. I stormed home (it was a very quick trip), kicked some rocks and then had a cry to the man about it when I got home.

So: Round One to Centrelink. But tomorrow I am going to ring them and find out why I HAVE to do this. It seems pretty ridiculous (considering they already told me I didn't have to).

I will update on what happens soon,

- Disgruntled Jen