I might just give them a ring
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Monday, 4 February 2013
Morning Rides
I have signed myself up for an endurance bike race on the 24th February, which is now only two and a half weeks away! it is 155km through the Melbourne countryside, with a couple of vicious hills thrown in for good measure. This means I am now in training and spending as much time as I can on the saddle. Biggish rides at the weekend, and as many little rides as I can cope with during the week.
One of my favoured rides, and the ride I did again this morning, takes me north from our house on the Esplanade up the Beach Road towards St Kilda, the time is approximately 5:50am and the sun has not quite risen, but the first signs of day are there. The beach road is busy with cyclists from about 5:15 am onwards, as cycling here can only be described as a national obsession. I attach myself to the back of whatever group passes by at the right speed and off I go, falling off when the pace gets too much, or jumping ahead if they slow too much (this deosnt happen very often)
St Kilda at sunrise is a very different place to the bustling entertainment centre it becomes during the day, and the hedonists playground it is by night. The beach front is deserted except for the occasional reveller who's beer legs let them down the night before, and the high street with its multitude of restaurants sleeps with just the occasional sign of the previous evenings excesses on show. St Kilda is the bohemian centre of Melbourne and the people much alike to the residents in Brighton back in the UK.
At the top of the high street I turn right into Albert Park, a tranquil grassy setting with a large lake in the middle that invites runners, sailors, rowers and cyclists to enjoy the surroundings and test themselves in their chosen exercise. Albert Park is of course more famous as the home of the Formula 1 race held each year in March, and as we approach that date, the park is slowly transforming itself from sleepy hideaway into an upcoming centre of global sporting interest. This morning I saw significant change from my last ride as the home straight now has full grandstands on both sides, and the safety fencing stretches round most of the circuit. Cycling round the circuit makes for a very exhilirating ride. Well the difference between my Giant road bike , retail value $2,000, powered by one ageing Brit, and a formula 1 racing car, retail value $BIG, powered by a thousand horses, is significant, but the ride doesnt stop giving you a small feeling of what it would be like to burn round this road at extroadinary speed, with the backdrop of the Melbourne skyscrapers on one side and the sailing boats on the other.
The scene is made ever more dramatic as the morning hot air balloons reach up over the city skyline, there are usually half a dozen balloons each morning, and whilst the view from up there must be great, they make quite a decent view from the ground as the sun peeps up and catches the skyscrapers to dazzle them in orange. I zap round the circuit a couple of times before making my way home in time for another day in the office, it is a great way to start the day!
N.B Lycra is definately the national dress of Melbourne!!
Thursday, 31 January 2013
I'm addicted to job interviews!
An odd statement I know, but it is true, I just love them!
Interviewer:
"Come in"
"Please Sit Down"
"Can youTalk about yourself for an hour!"
Errr! So what isnt there to love, its simple exhibitionism! bring me more!
Can I just sweep through my time in Australia going from interview to interview slowly cranking up the salary level with each one! - A professional interviewee!! - always winning never delivering!!
Truth is, with all cockyness aside, the job hunt for my second role in Australia is going very well, helped along by the fact that I got employed so quickly as a Country Manager when I arrived! Sadly though the role is not great and I am lookng forward to taking on a second position. I just need to make sure I get the right role next time!... and I need to juggle the options available long enough to give some of the better options time to mature.
And if any of those prospective companies are researching me and come across this blog -its your company I am waiting for!!
(I may need to delete this entry!)
Interviewer:
"Come in"
"Please Sit Down"
"Can youTalk about yourself for an hour!"
Errr! So what isnt there to love, its simple exhibitionism! bring me more!
Can I just sweep through my time in Australia going from interview to interview slowly cranking up the salary level with each one! - A professional interviewee!! - always winning never delivering!!
Truth is, with all cockyness aside, the job hunt for my second role in Australia is going very well, helped along by the fact that I got employed so quickly as a Country Manager when I arrived! Sadly though the role is not great and I am lookng forward to taking on a second position. I just need to make sure I get the right role next time!... and I need to juggle the options available long enough to give some of the better options time to mature.
And if any of those prospective companies are researching me and come across this blog -its your company I am waiting for!!
(I may need to delete this entry!)
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
6 Weeks in
We have now been in Melbourne for 6 weeks, and with a week and a half of work under my belt, I dare to suggest that we are starting to feel a little settled. The kids do not start shool until next week, which will be a major advancement, and Steph has not found work yet, but then the plan was always to make sure the kids were well settled before jumping that hurdle.
Starting work was a bit of a shock! and to be honest I am still finding the necessity to get up and be productive a bit of a strain, especially as the rest of the family are still at home, but Hey Ho! at least we have a long weekend coming up to celebrate Australia Day!
Steph and I have been debating the advantages of Australia (of which there are many, especially when you hear of the snow back home), and we have been weighing up whether this is a likely short, medium or long term adventure.
I think we really only have one conclusion for sure, and that is it is unlikely to become a permanent move. The lifestyle maybe great, and it is quite without question a better place to be than England, but it is not home, and as such we believe we will want to return at some point. We accept that we will possible regret a return, once the UK becomes 'normal' again. So we find ourselves in great symaphy for the 'Ping Pong Poms' who make repeated migrations between the two countries in an endless effort to find the right place!..... maybe the answer is to go travelling again!!!! - Only joking (or am I!)
Starting work was a bit of a shock! and to be honest I am still finding the necessity to get up and be productive a bit of a strain, especially as the rest of the family are still at home, but Hey Ho! at least we have a long weekend coming up to celebrate Australia Day!
Steph and I have been debating the advantages of Australia (of which there are many, especially when you hear of the snow back home), and we have been weighing up whether this is a likely short, medium or long term adventure.
I think we really only have one conclusion for sure, and that is it is unlikely to become a permanent move. The lifestyle maybe great, and it is quite without question a better place to be than England, but it is not home, and as such we believe we will want to return at some point. We accept that we will possible regret a return, once the UK becomes 'normal' again. So we find ourselves in great symaphy for the 'Ping Pong Poms' who make repeated migrations between the two countries in an endless effort to find the right place!..... maybe the answer is to go travelling again!!!! - Only joking (or am I!)
Monday, 7 January 2013
RAMSAY STREET
Sent from my Xperia™ smartphone smartphone
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