Sunday, October 11, 2009

Job prospects and a new baby on the way!

A couple of weeks ago I came to the conclusion that although working part time was a great break, I really wasn't getting enough hours to finance my lifestyle. I had only been averaging about 16-18 hours a week at my night fill job which was a bit of an issue considering a) the hourly rate kind of sucks and b) I was still spending as if I was working fulltime.
Ok, so maybe not quite as bad as when I was fulltime but almost as bad. Not that I've ever been silly with my money. But I like to buy books and we like to go to the movies and eat out occasionally and if I see an item of clothing that I like and it actually fits well, I like to be able to get it. And although we've got a bit of money in the bank, we've been eating into it and I like the security of having that there as a back up in case it all goes to shit.

So my first thought was to ask for more hours at work. If I could pick up more hours there it would save looking for a second job or even getting a brand new job. My current job may not pay the best and it certainly isn't the most glamorous job in the world but I like it and I like the people I work with and also I'm good at it. Filling shelves may not sound hard but it's physical and you have to be organised and fast but also neat and accurate.
Strangely enough when I arrived at work that day my department manager (night fill comes under the heading of longlife) said that she was going to change my hours so I started at 3pm every second day and work through till 11pm but my five hour Saturday shift would remain the same. So all of a sudden I was getting 27 hours a week and I hadn't even had to push for it.
I was talking to Chris, the nightfill manager about the new hours and said that it was good they had increased my hours because I had needed to extra money and otherwise I'd have had to look for a second job. Chris turned around and replied that she had told her partner in her gardening business about me and how she thought I was really hardworking and when she felt the time was right she was going to offer me a position.

I was rather surprised and flattered and rather chuffed actually :)

Basically it would be occasional work, just when they have a big job and need an extra pair of hands or one of them can't make it. Most of the jobs were cashies (shhhhh) and I could work as many hours as I wanted. Chris usually does about 4 hours per job but Di did 8 or sometimes 10. It sounded like a great way to make some extra cash, Chris would give me at least a week's notice of any jobs so I could plan around them, it wasn't going to be every week so I'd still get a break and it's completely different to anything I've done before. Fair enough, I potter about in my own garden but if you saw the state it's in now, you can tell I'm not fanatical about it. I weed when they reach waist height and I re-pot well past when they're due but I know the basics.

I had my first days work last Thursday and it was great. Weeding someone else's garden is much easier than weeding your own, especially when you're getting paid to do it. I did manage to get rather sunburnt so I'll have to be more careful of that in the future but overall I really enjoyed myself. It was never a line of work I ever thought I'd do, not because I think it's a crap job or anything but because I always thought you'd have to study horticulture or something first. Apparently Di has but Chris fell into it much the same way I did and started off just weeding and cleaning up after Di.

It'll be interesting to see where it goes.

Anyway, onto the second, more tantalising part of the topic ;-)
No, I'm not pregnant. Though it would be just my bloody luck after having gone through that damn op to make sure that we didn't. We tried, we couldn't, we moved on. I don't want to deal with that prospect now.

However, I am getting a brand new car! :D
I have never owned a car that was less than 10 years old. My first car was a Ford Laser that cost me $900 and lasted approxiamtely 9 months. After that I moved on my beloved Corollas and I have always found them to be reliable and hard working and I love them. No matter how old they were or how many kms they had done, if you take care of them they are so reliable.
My baby at the moment is just too sick. She is twenty years old now and has been so good to us but she needs a new starter motor, a new radiator, new suspension, the alarm fixed and an oil leak repaired that is near the cam belt so it's actually better to replace the whole motor instead (long story!). It's just getting too much.
So I convinced Christian to let me get a new baby and she arrives in two weeks! She a black Corolla seca (so the numberplates THRILSECA will actually make sense) and she is the fancy pants special edition Edge so she comes already kitted out with a spoiler and mags and body kit and a host of other fancy pants things that I would probably not bother with normally like bluetooth and fog lamps (I hate foglamps and think they're useless in sunny Aus). She's so pretty!
Once I get her I will post photos, most likely on facebook but if I am excited enough I may do a blog post as well.

And that's about it for now. Take care all and I hope all is well in your worlds.
*hugs*