NED’s World

It has been a great day, weather wise, in Brighton today. 19 degrees and sunny….

I went for a walk along the beach at sunset, it’s not as goods as Perth, but it still has its perks

Well, that’s what it feels like.

The government has given me 52 GBP (still no pound sign on this laptop, it also says the time is 9.01pm) to live on each week. An OK amount, but you have to not do anything to survive on it.

Every morning I walk to the job centre to check on jobs; a good 3 mile walk to make sure I get out of the flat at least once in a day.

But you can’t grab a coffee out and read a book for an hour; you can’t grab a pint or 2 or even buy the Guardian daily. You are left with the option of going for a walk (not a bad thing when the sun is shining and you live in Brighton) or you can sit back at home and try not to eat everything in the flat.

I have applied for jobs; 32 to date. 1 job had 456 applications; another 206! So I keep applying for anything I want to do, can handle doing or anything. The problem I have is that I am over qualified for a lot of the jobs on offer or underqualified for others. In a recession I am double fucked, my skills are in recruitment (one of the 1st things to go in a recession) and I recruit for marketing people (the 2nd thing to go)…..

Anyway, I will keep you posted what happens with work, but if any of you hear of anything let me know. Ideally I want something that will allow me to retrain in a digital marketing/web design/web development type role, get some experience and jump on that plane back downunder.

It has been hard coming back to the UK and also trying to work out what to do with this Blog.

When you see 90% of the people that read this almost every day it becomes a bit redundant; so I have been scatching my head at what to do with it.

It’s pointless writing something when I have bitched about it in the pub to most of you.

So, bear with me. I am going to keep this going, it may take a while to find its direction but it will find it at some point

For those of you who read this blog will know that I lost my job 2 weeks ago. I have been furiously trying to find a new job, but to no avail.

I had a deadline of today to get a new job, or return to the UK.

My flight arrives at Heathrow at 3pm on Thursday 5th March, 2 weeks.

See you all soon

Ok I learnt a valuable lesson yesterday morning, a painful but valuable lesson

Alongside the concrete paths near where I live are a mix of grass and sand, yesterday morning I went for a ride as I have canceled my personal training due to cost. I went off the path onto the right hand side thinking it was more solid than it was….. well I can tell you a great fact, sand stops a bike like the Hudson stops a plane… Quite quickly

I was thrown off the bike onto the concrete path…. it hurt, a lot. My injuries are as follows:

Skinned left knee, gash in left shin, grazed left ankle, bruises all over left leg, 3 cuts on left little finger, skinned left palm, skinned left elbow, grazed left shoulder (seeing a pattern here, won’t need the NTSB to work out which side of me hit the ground hardest!!), grazed right knee, bruised right knee, 3 knuckles on right hand scabbed…. and the crowning injury, a cracked rib (left side obviously)

I’m fine, a little sore, no major damage, more amused than anything. Bikes a little scratched with 2 punctures, but nothing that is a major upset

Anyway, know the saying “You never forget how the ride a bike”, it’s true, just don’t ride one if you’re a numpty

I am struggling to find work at the moment, mainly because companies are worried and, although they are hiring, they are not willing to sponsor 457 visas.

I met with a migration agent today and my only option is the 457 visa route, permanent residency isn’t an option as I can’t be skills tested as it is based on educational qualifications not work experience.

So I have 23 days to lodge a new application or leave the country, 3 weeks.

I have looked at Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, things are not looking good so far. I have just applied for a job in Halls Creek

I am giving myself to the end of next week, then I will start making moves to return to the UK. I haven’t the money to stay for much longer, I will need to move onto a tourist visa to finalise the getting rid of my flat, stuff that I can’t bring back etc

If anyone in Brighton has a spare room and is looking for a flat mate, let me know

Well there has the a first time for everything…. and this has been the first time I have been sacked

“Going our seperate ways” was how it was put, but sacked it still is.

So I have 28 days to find a new job and get sponsored, so I am currently job hunting…. AGAIN!

Looking at Perth, WA Regional, Sydney and Melbourne.

It is very liberating being sacked, on Friday I was a mess. Knowing that my time in Oz could be over, then I thought “fuck it, I’ll find something”, if not NZ isn’t far or anywhere else

We have tomorrow off work, it is a bank holiday to celebrate Australia Day, basically a day to celebrate…well being Australian.

So, I am embracing it wholeheartedly: I am gonna tie my kangaroo down (an aside, why did he want his Kangaroo tied down?, only one reason I know!); have a “root in my ute”, dust off my hat with corks and call everyone Bruce or Sheila

The Irish celebrate St Paddy’s day; the Scots have first footing; the Aussies have Australia Day, the French have Bastille day, the US have independence day and Thanksgiving….. why do the English not celebrate St. George’s Day!?! OK so we have Guy Fawkes Night but is that the same?

Anyway, Happy Australia Day, it’s 30 odd degrees and sunny, raise a beer for us downunder

Ok, I have been looking at the news sites and it amazes me of what goes into the swearing in of the new US President.

The one thing that makes me smile is this: at 12.01pm the lead Secret Service Agent moves from behind George W Fuckwit to stand behind Barack Obama, signaling the change of Presidency.

There are 40,000 security troops, including police, army and SS.

There are 2,000,000 people in Washington DC to see it (Bush was excelerated away as he was pelted with tomatos or is it tomatoes)

The World is holding their breath, here, in the UK, the Commonwealth and to many places to mention, waiting for the change…. but are we hoping for too much too soon?

I am over the moon, estactic for the change. Many of you know who know me, and read this blog, that I hate Bush, not just hate him but think he is the devil. But I am open-minded that it will take time to change 8 years of idiocy!

So, it is a time of change, not just in the US, but in the world too

I will raise a glass tomorrow to Barack Obama and keep hoping that what he promises will come true.

So all I can say is “Bush is dead, Bush is dead”

I hope, pray and hope, that 2009 is the sea of change…..

As many of you know, I do not have a problem with getting older at all. I don’t mind the gray hair, or the gray hair that is starting to appear in my beard. Or even the wrinkles around the eyes that used to be laughter lines.I am trying to grow old disgracefully as well (see last post)

So I went to the opticians today to have my eyes tested (been about 16 years since the last test)

So my eyes haven’t got worse, the right hand one is the same as before, the left is almost perfect (it has actually got better)

But my glasses are fucked, they are wobbly and missing bits. So I am now the proud owner of daily disposible contact lenses….. by the way, putting shit in your eyes like them is weird, with a capital W.E.I.R.D