See You Next Wednesday
Why do good people know the answers to bad questions?
We had a bye at indoor cricket on Tuesday so I went to a Pub Trivia Quiz with Dave, Fiona, Jimbo, Jonathan, Megan, Simon and Trudi. It was no different from any other quiz night I have been to, except for the good ones. Some questions were nonsensical. Some music was inaudible. Some answers were wrong. Some of the marks were unfathomable. Some (other) people cheated. We won no jugs of beer and came equal sixth by a margin great enough to make arguing for the points we had been robbed of academic. We amused ourselves by scorning the event and the ruthful presenter. It would have been a good night for a couple of pints of Guiness but I had that revelation a bit too late in the evening. Also, the management started to turn off the lights before the final scores were tallied.
Due to the robust nature of freeware you may need to scroll down to see todays entry....
I had a day off so I surfed the net while other people fixed the linen cupboard and the bathroom window flywire screen, and serviced my car. All I have to show for it is this (which I actually got off
Dave).
Happy birthday (yesterday) Kate.
People who think five's too much should get a job playing basketball.
I saw
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring again on Friday with Dave, Fiona, Megan and Simon. It remains and excellent movie and it is worth seeing on the big screen at least five times. Next Friday I shall be watching
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on the big screen for the third time. Unfortunately this is because Center Cinema is closing and they are showing their favourite movies as they shut down.
On Saturday there was a do at Dave and Fiona's for the people who helped construct the pergola and reconstruct their backyard. Hector, Jacquie, Jimbo, Linda, Megan and Simon were there and, having given them a wheelbarrow for their wedding, Ted visited from Sydney. After the barbecue lunch and coffee for afternoon tea Jimbo, Linda, Megan, Simon, Ted and I went to see
Matrix Reloaded on Saturday night. It was spectacular and I only fell asleep for a few minutes when the Oracle we expositing. Then Jimbo, Simon and Ted came back to Linda and my house to chat, eat pizza, watch
Black Books while waiting for the F.A. Cup Final to start and drink coffee. Most people managed to stay up until Arsenal won and then everybody swiftly went to bed.
Dave, Fiona, Linda, Megan, Ted and had pancakes and coffee for breakfast before Simon joined us and we went shopping, mainly at Impact Records (although some people popped into David Jones for bath robes). Then we went for a trek in search of coffee before saying ciao to Ted when Simon and I left to play Dungeons and Dragons. We picked up Jimbo and were joined by Greg at Jonathan and Trudi's place for a twelve hour session (sustained by toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches, crackers and cheese, biscuits, confectionery and coffee).
Technically it's not over yet.
I did an all-nighter on a job application last night. It's a promotion from ASO5 (managee) to ASO6 (manager) level and it's a classic case of needing experience to get the job to get the experience needed to get the job... However as I know someone on the selection panel and I have job applications that are only six months old which can easily be updated I decided to apply. Also, you don't get selected for higher duties if you aren't prepared to hit your head against the brick work availability barrier i.e. doing the work for love-analogue not money and thus gaining the experience needed to meet the selection criteria for the job you're already doing.
Applications are due tomorrow, I had a flex today, everything was fine until yesterday when my Team Leader asked to see my application before she wrote her referee report. One all-nighter later I emailed her a dusted and polished ASO6 application from when I was seeking a transfer to Canberra. Six hours of sleep later there is a five hour old reply from her advising me to use my application as an "expression of interest" and asking for an extension to rewrite it along the lines of the draft job application she had attached. If I wasn't doing this because it was expected of me, it took little effort to achieve and it was good practise for when I've actually got the wherewithal to meet the selection criteria, I might have been disappointed by her reaction.
How three years ago can they get?
When I moved from Townsville to Canberra I sold my Yamaha Jog CY50 scooter to Luke. Since then Queensland Transport has been sending all my correspondence to Luke's address. Fortunately Luke is a friend and knew where to forward my mail, including the Overdue Registration Fees Final Notice for my Toyota Echo Hatchback. I have registered my car in the ACT where I now live and I have handed in my old Queensland number plates, but that is not enough for Queensland Transport. They require a letter requesting the registration be cancelled and the receipt for the number plates. Not a transfer of registration information between territory and state government departments, not a telephone or internet customer business transaction, not even a fax; it has to be a letter.
I found this out when a man from Queensland Transport called me. He called me because the woman from Queensland Government Information and Referrals had asked him to. She had asked him to because she could not transfer my call to Queensland Transport. She had permission to transfer me, it was the telephone system which could not transfer an interstate call. She had got permission to transfer me because when I had called the Queensland Transport interstate enquiry number it was not connected. Maybe the final notice for their phone bill was sent to the address of a company they outsourced their information technology development to.
Nix box books.
On Saturday I unpacked my books. This is the first time they have all been on shelves since I moved into
Poca Boca del Infierno and donated a bootload to Lifeline*. Now it seems
Doctor Who novels are the majority of my library. Another potentially large category of books are those I haven't read yet so I will have to find some reading time. With Linda starting full-time work in the basement of Parliament House and the evanescence of a soccer season I prepared for so poorly I think I could find an hour or two when I get home to learn to read again (or unpack my games, or watch a video, or weed the garden, or mow the lawn, or update my blog).
*Literally a bootload and not a small boot either. It was a hatchback with the back seat folded down capacity bootload.
